The Green, Green Grass of Home
by basscymru
Summary: A modern muggle AU. Sirius runs away from home to stay with James, in his parents' house on the Welsh coastline. Through his friend, Sirius meets a rather intriguing local.
1. Chapter 1

Paddington Station was busy on a good day. On a Monday morning, at the beginning of the Easter holidays, it was swamped with commuters and holiday makers. A teenage boy stood in front of the announcement board, clutching a scrap of paper and staring at the board. Had anyone paid close attention, they would have seen an exhausted, bruised face, a hastily packed shoulder bag, and a sort of lost aura about him.

On the scrap of paper was an address. He could barely decipher the untidy scrawl, and what he could read only confused him further. _Llanfairpwll. Who the fuck needs so many consonants anyway?_ He crumpled the paper in frustration, and slipped it back into his pocket. According to the announcements, there were no trains to Llanfairpwll either. He groaned, and realised he was going to have to use his initiative. _Well,_ he thought, running a tired hand over his face. _Llanfairpwll is in Wales, right? Let's get there first._

Ten minutes later, he found himself collapsing onto a peeling seat, resting his head against the overstuffed headrest. It was a grotty train. The seats were lumpy and uncomfortable, rubbish rolling around the floor as the train pulled out. Within minutes, children were screaming up and down the carriage.

When James had pressed his address into his hand on the last day of term, with the promise that if Sirius needed, he could take refuge at his place, Sirius had never honestly thought he would need it. His family couldn't be that bad, really. What was the worst they could do to him?

The worst, apparently, was quite bad.

But he didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to think anything at all. He fished around in his pocket, looking for his phone to text James and play mindless games for the next few hours, but he couldn't find it. Taking his bag, he ignored the disapproving looks and emptied it onto the seat beside him, but in vain.

With a heavy groan, he realised he must have left the phone on his bedside table. When he had been packing to leave, his one thought had been to do just that: leave. Everything else had been out of focus as he threw grubby T-Shirts and jeans he hadn't worn since he was thirteen into his shoulder bag.

Desperate for any sort of distraction, Sirius opened a book without even glancing at the cover. But his thoughts kept sliding elsewhere as his concentration slipped again and again, until he just stared at the page blankly. It was going to be a long journey.

Several hours later, Sirius stepped off his second train and into the pouring rain. Having caught the train to Cardiff, he had sat on a platform for what seemed like hours as he waited for the train to Aberystwyth to roll by. That train had been worse than the London train, rattling unsteadily on its tracks and every so often, making a noise that sounded far too much like piece of equipment falling for Sirius' liking. He had been grateful when it had finally pulled in to small, empty station, at which Sirius was the only one to depart. He shouldered his bag, and set off into the rain.

Sirius trudged through the village, head bowed, hair dripping onto his face. At some point, he realised he was walking uphill and paused to tilt his head upwards. The village was built on the side of a mountain, cottages trailing down to the mouth of the sea, ending abruptly where the waves crashed upon the rocks.

Above him, the rows of houses pattered out, and behind them, as he peered through the rain, Sirius thought he could make out the outline of a mansion. He somehow doubted there were many in the village who could afford such a home, and continued his steady hike to James'.

It had been a decent holiday thus far, James thought. Despite the wet weather which haunted Wales at Easter, James had been enjoying himself.

Eight years ago, when James' parents decided to move to Wales, James had hardly been affected by it; it was just before he'd started secondary school, a boarding school in Scotland. During the holidays, however, James came quickly to discover that he rather liked the small village – only to find he had fallen in love with it. For a sporty kid, it was ideal; the often calamitous sea, the overbearing mountain, and the local children were easily enough to keep James interested. He lived in a spacious house surrounded by gorgeous views, and was spoilt by his parents. Had he thought about it, he would have been hard pushed to find any complaints.

However, it wasn't only the sea, or his parents, that kept James happy. One day, while exploring the caves at low tide, he stumbled across a boy leaning against a rock, a book resting on his knees. He almost literally stumbled across him. Stick brandished, James had been fighting pirates with enthusiasm when his stamping foot came perilously near to the boy's head.

James – being hyperactive, and ten – had demanded the boy's name. In retrospect, it may have been fairly abrupt. The boy was, after all, a total stranger, and James may have come across as fairly intimidating with his stick and wellington boots.

The boy, who had nearly toppled over, had straightened himself out and checked his book for damage. When it was deemed safe, he had looked up at James, squinting slightly in the sun. "Remus," he had said softly.

"Remus what?"

"Remus Lupin."

"Oh." James had started to trace patterns in the sand, chewing his lip mindlessly. For some reason – unknown to him at the time – he hadn't wanted to leave Remus Lupin. He had stared up at James with large, unblinking eyes, his auburn hair tucked behind his ears. His breathing had been slow and heavy, and James listened as it began to fall in time with the roll of the waves against the sand. A small cough had withdrawn him from his trance, and he had looked up from his drawings.

"What are you reading?" he asked.

Remus glanced down at his book, as if he had forgotten. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," he replied. James could see that it was a well-loved book; a letter had been rubbed off the front covering, and the edges were furry and fraying.

"It's a good book." The corner of Remus' eyes creased when he smiled.

"You think so?"

James sat down heavily beside him. "Uh-huh. Have you read any other Roald Dahl?"

Several years later, it seemed the friendship had yet to burn out and die. They only saw one another during the holidays, since James was in school during the term time, but – being currently the only two teenagers in the village – they spent almost the entire holiday in their each other's company.

This was one of those times. The pair of boys were sprawled across James' sofa, empty Chinese littered around the room, the TV blaring out a loud, American comedy. Both were quiet, yet neither watched the show. James was staring at the ceiling, counting the swirls of paint. He felt content as he listened to Remus' steady breathing, and wondered if he'd fallen asleep.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. After waiting for a moment, the call of "James, sweetie, will you answer the door please?" rang through the house. Heaving himself off the sofa with a mutter of "back in a minute", James took the stairs at a gallop.

"Coming!" he roared as he swung around the banister and charged towards the door.

When he saw the figure standing at the door, James' eyebrows rose in disbelief. He was not surprised to see Sirius, but the state of his best friend was shocking. Sirius was soaked through, his hair dripping onto his bruised cheek. His shoulders were hunched under the weight of his bag, but a smile was still plastered on his face.

"Sirius, mate," James breathed, opening the doors wider to allow his friend in. "What the hell…?"

"Can I stay for a while?" Sirius asked, his smile faltering.

"Yeah, course, course. Look, let me just… The spare bedroom is straight up the stairs, on the right, OK? I… I'll just let my parents know, then I'll bring you some spare clothes. Get dry, or something, right?"

Sirius gave a single nod, and James, giving his friend a final tentative look, moved in the direction of the kitchen.

Haltingly, Sirius climbed the Potter's staircase. His knees and shoulders ached with exhaustion, and his feet tripped on the stairs as he dragged himself up. The living room presented itself as he reached the top, along with a boy reclining on the sofa. Sirius, too tired to make introductions, spent a moment or two taking in the top of his head, and knees, before creeping past him to the bedroom.

In the Potters' spare room, he collapsed immediately on to the bed. His eyes were closed before his head hit the pillow.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading my first chapter. I'm really nervous about posting this, because I actually wrote this for the first time weeks and weeks ago. I'd like to thank thosedarndursleys for beta'ing this, for her patience, and for putting up with me. If anyone can bear to leave me a line of review, please do. It honestly makes me so happy.


	2. Chapter 2

Sirius slept soundly for thirteen hours, feeling safe and peaceful at last. When his rest was finally interrupted, it was by a concerned looking James carrying a tray. "Sirius, mate," he said under his breath. "Are you OK? What's going on?"

Rubbing sleep from his eyes, Sirius sat up and grasped the mug with two hands. "Erm," he said after having taken a sip, wondering how to explain the mess to James. "I've run away. There was a big fight, and – and Dad might have hit me. But it's OK!" he added quickly, seeing the agitated line crossing James' forehead deepen. "I've had worse, see? He didn't do much damage. And I don't have to go back – I can stay here, right? I don't have to see any of them ever again." Sirius tensed as he suddenly considered it a possibility that the Potters wouldn't want him staying with them.

James sat at the foot of the bed and ran a hand through his hair. "Of course you can stay," he sighed. "Mum and Dad like you. I actually already asked them, and they said you could stay as long as you needed to. But – God, Padfoot, you're only fifteen. Is this even legal?"

"I'll be sixteen in September, and then it's definitely legal. And before that – well, as long as they don't go to the police or something, I should be fine."

James huffed a despairing laugh, though Sirius could hear it was tinged with worry. "You've really thought this through, haven't you?"

"I can't stay there James. You know I can't."

"No, of course not," James agreed. Though he hated to admit, James had spent a lot of time worrying about Sirius, despite Sirius' reluctance to talk about his family home. "Well, as soon as you're feeling up to it, come downstairs for breakfast and talk to my parents." Sirius nodded in agreement, and James stood up to leave the room.

"James?"

At the door, James looked over his shoulder at his bruised and tired friend. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Why the fuck are all the signs in Welsh?"

Sirius and James were ambling down to the high street, armed with bags and Mr Potter's shopping list.

"We're in Wales, now, mate. You'd better get used to it. Plus, they're in English, too."

"Barbaric," Sirius muttered under his breath. James grinned.

"I wouldn't let the locals hear you say that."

"I said nothing!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in defence.

"Well, shut up, and let me doing the talking, in case you start a fight with anyone."

They had reached the high street, although all Sirius could see were a few crummy cafés, a shop full of buckets and spades, and a Spar. James strolled into the Spar, and Sirius trailed behind regretfully.

"Alright, Dai?" James asked the man behind the counter cheerfully.

"Alright, James?" a gruff man replied. "Doin' your mam's shoppin', is it?"

"That's right. We won't be a minute." Dai eyed Sirius suspiciously, so the English teenager turned to examine the selection of meats. He certainly didn't feel up to arguing with a beefy Welsh man.

Sirius let out a sigh of relief when he and James left the shop. "Jesus, Prongs, I thought he was gonna hit me. I think they can tell I'm English." Despite Sirius' lack of contact with the Welsh, he was well aware of their rocky relationship with his fellow countrymen.

"Nah, Dai's OK. Although it's true. You practically exfoliate Englishness."

"Fuck off, James."

They walked from the Spar, crossed the almost empty street, and arrived outside one of the crummy cafés. James pushed his way in.

The café was just as crummy inside. It was empty but for a single family, complete with a wailing baby, and a teenager standing behind the counter. The café had an old fashioned feel to it, full of slate and thick tables. Sirius could smell the lingering damp from the rain the night before.

"Remus, my man!" James cried. The baby sobbed even harder, ignoring the parents' attempts to soothe him. The boy at the counter looked up.

"James," he nodded. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Padfoot."

Sirius raised his hand in greeting.

"Is that your Christian name?" Remus asked wryly. Sirius gave an uncomfortable laugh, feeling scrutinised under his heavy gaze.

"No, no, it's Sirius." There was a shifty silence, whereby Sirius tried

looking anywhere except at Remus, for fear of blushing. He failed miserably.

"Anyway," James interrupted, breaking the pregnant pause. "I'll have two of my usuals. If Padfoot doesn't like it, he knows where he can stick it."

"Coming right up."

James led Sirius to a table in the corner. Neither said anything, both taking in their surroundings. Sirius watched Remus behind the coffee machine from the corner of his eye.

He was fairly ordinary looking. Faded brown hair dropped on to his forehead and his nose was a little too long for him to be considered attractive. Despite this, Sirius found himself drawn to him, and couldn't help but grin when Remus brought their drinks over with the announcement that his shift had finished.

He sat beside James and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. Both were looking at Sirius, making him feel a little bit intimidated.

"So, Padfoot," Remus asked, cutting through the silence. "What brings you to Llanfairpwll?"

"The beautiful views and charming locals," Sirius replied without missing a beat. A minuscule smile danced on Remus' lips.

"Do you know what Padfoot was complaining about earlier, Remus?" James asked, throwing Sirius a sly smile.

"Shockingly, James, I don't."

"He was complaining about all the signs being in Welsh. It seems he does not believe in keeping the language of the Heavens alive."

Remus directed his gaze at Sirius. Sirius had to resist the urge to shrink back into his seat.

"And what about the Welsh speakers? Do you propose we ignore them?"

"How many Welsh speakers are there in Wales, honestly?" Sirius asked, feeling braver than he ought. This was only one of James' stupid mates, anyway. "And how many of them don't understand English?"

Remus' smile widened, and Sirius got the feeling he was about to lose terribly. "About half a million, blod, but do you not think we should give first language Welsh speakers the opportunity to read in whichever language they feel most comfortable?"

Sirius opened his mouth to argue, but Remus continued. "Of course, it's your fault – as an Englishman – that the language is dying at all, _chwarae teg_."

Sirius blinked as James gave a hoot of laughter. The fire of victory sparkled in Remus' eyes as he smirked across the table at Sirius. What Sirius was dealing with, he soon found out, was the linguistic get-out-of-jail-free card. _Chwarae teg_ translated into 'fair play', and Sirius learnt that once Remus had used one, there was nothing, no canyon-bridging leap of logic he could not get away with.

The three boys sat for at least an hour, swapping stories and laughing heartily. Sirius found he liked Remus more and more as the morning wore on. He was witty and sarcastic, and every so often would throw Sirius a smile that made his heart clench. His accent was soft and lilting, almost song-like and Sirius practically swooned when his tongue curled around his _r_ -s.

"Right then, lads!" James cried eventually. "I reckon it's time for Sirius and I to head off, or Mum'll start to worry." He collected his things and waited for Sirius to do the same. "See you, Remus."

"Bye, James. Bye, Padfoot."

Sirius resisted the urge to ask about Remus until both he and James were walking along the road again. "So… What's the deal with Remus?"

"The deal?" James asked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know, how come I haven't heard of him?"

"I dunno. Never came up I suppose." Sirius waited for him to elaborate. James rolled his eyes. "He lives on the other side of the High Street. Goes to the local comp, a couple of villages over. Erm, Welsh speaking home. Plays the piano."

"Alright, alright, I didn't ask for the story of his life."

"You kind of did."

"Fuck off, Prongs."

The pair of them spent the rest of the afternoon kicking a ball around in James' back garden, distracting Sirius from the now decidedly attractive teenager with the soothing accent.

After a while, they ended up on their backs, staring up at the dusky sky. Both were breathing heavily and were left to their own thoughts. Sirius was still wondering about Remus while James, no doubt, was trying to work out where he might next (as he so eloquently put it) 'get a bit of skirt'.

Just as Sirius was beginning to wish he wasn't quite so fixated with James' friend, Eileen Potter called for them. "Boys! Dinner's ready!"

Sirius' original plan was to be pleasant and grateful while he stayed with the Potters, but he couldn't help but be sullen, his face contorted into a scowl, and his fork pushing food around his plate. Fortunately, no one said anything, but he could feel worrying eyes burn in to his forehead.

"Sirius?" Michael Potter asked. Sirius looked up in dismay, the irrational thought taking him that, as he was such an unpleasant guest, they would ask him to leave.

Michael Potter was a man in his sixties with a pleasant disposition. With his round face and cheerful grin, Sirius might have described him as jovial. However, he now wore an expression of express concern. "Would you like to talk about why you left your family?"

All three Potters wore identical expressions, peering at him from behind their thick glasses. Sirius shook his head and pretended to be interested in his food.

"It's only that you seem a bit… Down," Eileen elaborated.

"It's fine, honestly. I'm fine."

"OK, love. If you're sure."

Panic seized his chest. There was something about the motherly look Eileen gave him that made feel sick. Something in his body surged forward, urging him to get out. A voice in the back of his mind told him he was going to hate himself for this later, but he ignored it. "I'm going upstairs," he said, standing up sharply. The Potters looked at him in surprise as he stumbled from the room.

In his bathroom, Sirius pressed his hands against the edge of the sink and glared at his reflection. The bruise on his cheek was a mottling purple and as he examined mark, the full force of his situation suddenly hit him. His hands shook as he sobbed, leaning his forehead against the glass.

 _He was homeless_.

He pressed his lips together.

 _He was having to crash at his mate's house._

He clapped a hand to his mouth.

 _He'd lost his brother – possibly for ever._

Suddenly long arms were wrapping themselves around Sirius. For a moment, Sirius tensed, before giving in to James' warm embrace, and crying helplessly into his shoulder.

"Shh, Sirius. Come on. It's OK."

A/N: I now have an eleven hour rehearsal, and I'm not going to see my friend again for five weeks, so if anyone wants to cheer me up with a review, I'm not complaining.


	3. Chapter 3

Sirius glanced down at the crumpled paper in his hand before looking up at the house. He tried to quell the butterflies in his stomach, but in vain.

James was out abseiling or kayaking or swimming or something. Sirius hadn't really been listening when he was told. But he had been paying enough attention to complain endlessly when he realised he was being left alone all day. He had followed James around, whining about how he was being left entirely alone in a strange village, in a strange country, until James finally scribbled Remus' address on a scrap of paper.

"Won't he mind?" Sirius asked uncertainly.

"The fuck do I care? Get out of my hair. Go away."

"But-"

"Get out! Go and make some other friends, for Christ's sake."

After being chivvied out of the house by copious amounts of swearing from his dear friend, and gentle instructions from Eileen, Sirius left to wander through the village. Eventually he found the correct street, filled with pretty little coloured houses, all with a gorgeous view out onto the beach.

Apprehensively, he stood outside number 17 and smoothed the paper with his thumb. "Well," he said under his breath. "What have I got to lose?"

A small, plump woman opened the door. "Hello," she said, beaming as if there was nothing she loved more than to have strange teenage boys appear on her doorstep at ten o'clock in the morning. "Can I help you?"

"Uh, yeah, I was wondering if Remus was in?" He ran his fingers through his hair in an effort to calm him.

"Of course, love. I'll just get him."

She turned her head, and bellowed up the stairs, "Remus! Mae rhywun wrth y drws amdanat ti!"

"Pwy yw e?" Remus shouted back.

"Are you Remus' friend?" she asked, turning back to Sirius.

"Well – yeah, I suppose."

"Ffrind i ti, Remus! 'Nai danfon fe lan nawr! Look, if you just go straight up the stairs, Remus should be in the room at the end of the hall," she instructed, moving aside to allow Sirius to enter her home.

It was cosy, Sirius thought. The door led straight into living room which was filled with overstuffed furniture. There was a distinct smell of warm bread wafting from the kitchen, and Sirius willed his stomach not to growl. He followed the woman's instructions – he assumed she was Remus' mother – and clambered up the narrow staircase.

When he pushed the door open, he found a similarly crowded room, Remus sitting in a desk chair at the centre of it. "Oh," he said, looking surprised. "Hello, Padfoot."

"It's just James has got some sporty thing to do, and I didn't want to be alone all day, so he sent me here, and… Well, here I am." Sirius realised that Remus had never asked what he was doing and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"That's OK. Come in."

Sirius sat gingerly on Remus' bed. "If I'm intruding, please send me away."

"Not at all."

Sirius glanced around, his eyes falling on the Remus' desk. "What are you working on?"

"Oh." Remus looked down at the explosion of paper and pens his desk had become. "I have exams in a couple of weeks."

"Exams? Really?"

"Yeah."

"I don't have any exams until next year."

Remus rolled his eyes and huffed. "Yeah, I know. Lucky bastard."

"Don't let me interrupt your work, OK?"

"No, it's OK, I probably need a break."

Sirius grinned. "So, are we just gonna sit on your bed all day, or what?"

Remus chose to take Sirius for a walk and to teach him that the English were, after all, shit heads. Sirius relentlessly stood up for his ancestors, although his confidence wavered after a while.

The mountain, on the side of which the village had been built, seemed a lot bigger to Sirius as he began to climb it. With a kitkat in each of their pockets, courtesy of Mrs Lupin, they made their way up the village, across farm land, and reached the steep incline which was the mountain itself. Although the view of the shimmering sea and the bits and pieces of green land thrusting out in to the middle of it was stunning, that wasn't what kept Sirius entertained.

It didn't take long for the pair to move on from insulting each other's heritages to their every day lives. Sirius learnt that Remus could play the piano to a very high standard, loved to write and hoped to study English literature (he banned Sirius from mentioning this to Mrs Lupin), that his favourite author was Jane Austen (he banned Sirius from mentioning this to James) and that he loved Disney films – it was a tradition for he and James to watch as many as they could manage in a single day.

Sirius glanced at the boy. He'd had some vague notion in the back of his head that if he got to know him better, the mystery would fall away and he would be less intrigued by him and, therefore, less inclined to think about him, as he had been doing since the day before. Unfortunately, this did not seem to be the case. Sirius found that the more he discovered about him, the more he liked him, and as he watched him pushing his fringe out of his face absentmindedly, Sirius thought he might feel attraction. He filed that worrisome thought away to consider later.

Half an hour later, after clambering up the rocky peak of the mountain, they stood together on a huge boulder, feeling very pleased with themselves. When Sirius had last looked at the cove below him, the beach was littered with families and the sea shone the weak sunshine. Now, ominous looking clouds began to roll in over the village.

"We'd better get back," Remus said, tilting his head to admire the darkening sky. "I've got to work in a bit."

Sirius flopped on to the rock. "Not until we've eaten our kitkats."

Remus rolled his eyes, but sat beside Sirius and unwrapped the chocolate.

"So," Remus said after devouring the first bar. "Now it's your turn to tell me about yourself."

"Oh. Erm…" All of a sudden, Sirius had forgotten everything of note about himself. "I dunno. What do you want to know?"

"Well, where are you from?"

Sirius kicked a pebble as a brief, but powerful, surge of anger settled in his chest. "London," he muttered, hoping Remus would get the message that Sirius really didn't want to discuss his home for the moment.

To his relief, Remus asked him about his favourite books and films, evidently looking for subjects to continue the conversation.

"1994 was the greatest year ever in film," Sirius argued some time later. "You have your Shawshank Redemption, your Forrest Gump, your Lion King, your Pulp Fiction, even Four Weddings and a Funeral. Honestly," he added, seeing Remus' smirk. "I feel very strongly about this."

"So I can see," Remus replied, just as a drop of rain landed on his nose. He crossed his eyes to examine at his now damp nose while Sirius looked up at the dark clouds, just as the sky opened under the weight of torrential rain.

Within minutes Sirius was soaked through, his hair plastered to his head. He sputtered and almost screamed initially, but Remus laughed and threw his arms apart. "Don't you love the rain?" he shouted.

"No!" Sirius replied, already standing up and waiting for Remus to follow suit, desperately trying to keep his circulation going while hopping from foot to foot. "Hurry the fuck up, Lupin!" He held out his hand to pull Remus up, their wet fingers sliding together. Just as Sirius realised that he was _holding hands_ with this boy, Remus pulled away and charged down the path.

"Come on! Let's get dry!"

With a grin, Sirius followed.

They managed to arrive back at Remus' house in one piece, their clothes sticking to their skin and their hair dripping down their face. Mr Lupin met them at the door and fetched towels and clean clothes. The baggy T-Shirt was too big for Sirius and the jeans sat comically low on his hips, but he was less likely to get hypothermia – although Remus had already reminded him that it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

Sirius was incredibly relieved to find that his jeans had been enough to protect his boxers from the rain, although while they changed in the same room, they turned their backs to give the other some form of privacy. Sirius had to grit his teeth and resist the urge to sneak a peek at Remus, but he managed.

They flopped onto the sofa in their warm clothes when they deemed themselves dry enough and flicked the TV on to show bad reality TV.

"Enjoy your walk?" Remus asked over Jeremy Kyle's lecture.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Sod off. What the fuck is wrong with this country?"

"I dunno. It's not usually that bad. Maybe we shouldn't have climbed that mountain."

"Hey, that's an idea. Let's not climb Welsh mountains when it's about to rain."

"I'll get Cymdeithas yr Iaith on you, honest to God."

"The hell is Cymdeithas yr Iaith?"

Remus gave a soft laugh and a lopsided grin. "Oh, a terrorist group. They don't like English people moving in to Wales and taking the houses, so they set fire to things. Watch out, or you'll be next."

Sirius pulled a horrified face. "I regret coming to live with James so much."

They lapsed into silence and pretended to be engrossed in the TV show. After a moment or two, Remus called, "Dad! Ydy Mam eisiau help yn y caffi?"

As a muffled reply floated into the room Sirius tried to guess what Remus had said.

"I've got to go and work in the café."

"OK," Sirius nodded. "I guess I'll see you soon?"

"Yeah. James and I have our Disney marathon coming up. You're invited, by the way."

"I'll see if I'm free," Sirius smiled.

In the Potter household, Sirius found James just as wet as he had been, his hair flattened against his head as he wondered around shirtless, yelling that he couldn't find a clean jumper.

"Put some clothes on, mate, honestly," Sirius chided gently, smirking.

James flicked his T-Shirt at him, spraying Sirius with sea water. "What have you been doing all day, then?"

"I went for a walk up Carningli. You're not the only one who's a fitness freak, you know."

"With Remus?"

James, giving up on his mother, sat on the sofa and pulled a coarse blanket over himself.

"Yeah."

Sirius sat beside him, and tried to wrestle the blanket off him. While Sirius was perfectly healthy, his strength was nothing on that of the football captain's, and he lost within seconds, having to make do with wrapping his arms around himself.

"Did you have fun?" James asked, smiling smugly.

"Sure. Interesting guy, that Remus is. Anyway, what are our plans for the rest of the week?"

"Before you so rudely interrupted, I had a plan for my Easter."

A panicked and crestfallen look flashed across Sirius' face, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. "Fuck off," he said half-heartedly.

James realised that it might not have been the most tactful thing to say, and placed a reassuring hand on Sirius' knee. "Come on, I was joking, Pads. I'm glad you're here. We want to take care of you."

Sirius looked like he wanted to say something, but he only gestured for James to carry on talking. "What were your plans?"

"I like to swim in the sea every day, then sit in the café with Remus for a couple of hours, then come home and eat loads of food and watch films."

"I don't have to swim, right?"

James pulled a face. "You need to be fit for the new term, Padfoot! Schools' championships, remember?"

"How could I forget? But honestly, I'm fit enough. There's no way I'm swimming in that sea. It looks so _cold_."

"Well, it is," James conceded. "You just have to keep moving, and then it's OK."

"I'll tell your mum that when she's fishing your frozen body out of the sea."

James rolled his eyes and flicked Sirius the bird.

A/N: Hello again. I have very little to say this time except that I've just completed a Harry Potter movie marathon, and that everyone should be very proud of me. Leave a review.


	4. Chapter 4

The holidays were drawing to a close and Sirius found himself feeling unusually miserable as the final Sunday drew nearer and nearer. Sirius was used to looking forward to going back to school. Despite the boring-as-hell lessons and the even drearier detentions, he found comfort in the thought of living with Peter and James again. With them, there were no screaming matches, only well-meaning arguments. His mother never threw terrific tantrums; Peter sulked half heartedly. When Sirius was in his dormitory, hardly a silent hour went by, heavy with awkwardness and pent up emotions. With those two, Sirius was happy.

Sirius was also happy with Remus. They had hung out regularly, sometimes with James and sometimes without. Sirius found himself both horrified and delighted at how much he enjoyed his new friend's company. Delighted because Remus seemed a good sort of friend to have; horrified because of the clenching in his stomach every time Remus threw him a sly, secret smile.

On the final Saturday of the holidays, Remus had been offered the chance to play the piano with the county orchestra in a concert hall in Cardiff. In order to make the most of the occasion, James and Sirius were travelling with him to spend the day in Cardiff and watch his concert in the evening. The three were deemed old enough to travel by train without supervision, much to Remus' scepticism.

Sirius hadn't been to the train station since his first evening in Llanfairpwll, but he found it wasn't in a much better state during the day than at night. There were only two other people on the platform; a man who looked old enough to have fought in the Great War himself, and his daughter who looked scary enough as she yelled down her phone in a thick Welsh accent. Sirius tried not to look intimidated.

"What are you playing tonight?" he asked Remus, looking away from the couple.

"The Moonlight Sonata," Remus told him. "It's because of you lot I'm not practising right now."

"It's not a big deal," James sighed. "You're only playing on the little stage."

"Fuck off, James," Remus retorted.

"Children, children!" Sirius interrupted before either got genuinely cross. "Now is not the time or the place to fight. Allow yourself a moment to enjoy the shitness that is this train station – "

"Just shut up, Padfoot!" Remus snapped. Sirius looked taken aback, then a little disappointed.

"Sorry, Remus."

Fortunately, the train trundled along the tracks and broke the awkwardness that followed. All three climbed aboard and found seats opposite each other silently. After exchanging a glance with James, Sirius asked, "Are you OK?"

"Look, I'm-" He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm just nervous, alright? I don't wanna think about the concert right now," he mumbled.

James perked up. "OK. Well, we still need to find you a nickname," he said.

"And why," Remus asked as patiently as he could manage. "Would I need a nickname?"

"Because you're part of the Marauders!" James explained.

Remus sighed, although Sirius thought he could see some of the tension leave his shoulders. "The what?"

"The Marauders," Sirius chimed in. "Our gang at school."

"You mean the gang that's made up of you two and some kid called Peter?"

"Exactly!"

"I don't know if you noticed, but I don't actually go to your school."

"Don't worry about it," James reassured him. "Pete would love to have you as a part of our gang, wouldn't he, Sirius?"

Sirius nodded solemnly. "Without a doubt."

The train pulled out of the station and Sirius watched as the train picked up speed. The countryside whizzed by in a mess of farms, churches and hills. Sirius thought he should spend more time appreciating the beauty of Wales, even if the towns and villages were run down and grim.

"Oi, Padfoot," James said, waving a hand in front of his face. "Are you with us?"

"We can't think of a nickname," Remus told him with another world weary sigh. "Not since I told him both Roman and Emperor are out of the question."

"But Caligula, you're the founder of Rome."

Remus threw an empty coffee cup at his head.

"I actually really fancy a coffee," Sirius said, standing up. "Does anyone else want to come up to the food carriage with me?"

His request was met with raised eyebrows.

"I suppose not, then."

Cardiff would have been nicer had the sun been shining, Sirius thought. As it was, it seemed to be rather drab and grey and just like every other city Sirius had visited. Another castle, another pleasant shopping centre, a few independent shops and cafés, and not much else.

He thought about this while the three of them took shelter in Starbucks from the drizzling rain. He nibbled on a cookie and examined the coffee shop, which was a mess of peeling paint and greasy floors.

"Do you guys want anything while we're in Cardiff?" Remus asked. "I have to go to rehearse in a minute, but I can give you directions somewhere if you need it."

"Sirius needs some new clothes," James said, a prominent smudge of chocolate on his cheek. "He's been wearing the same pair of jeans and four T-Shirts since he arrived."

"I don't have any money, mate." It felt odd for Sirius to say this. He was not accustomed to being penniless. He wasn't sure if the churning in his stomach was elation at having escaped his family or the full force of his situation, once again, hitting him like a tonne of bricks.

"My parents will pay."

"Prongs, your parents are already giving me a place to stay and food and all that. I can't let them-"

"Padfoot, I don't think you've quite understood how much money my parents have. They're loaded. They literally have nothing else to spend it on. They told me to buy you clothes. They want to do it," James said firmly. It failed to make Sirius feel much better.

"Either way," Remus said, brushing crumbs off his T-Shirts as he stood up. "I should get going. You remember how to get to the hall, right James?"

James nodded. When Remus had left, he turned a critical eye to Sirius. "You probably won't be allowed in wearing those smelly clothes anyway. Let's get you some new outfits."

Despite all his vocal protestations, Sirius was grateful for the no nonsense way James bought him clothes. They trailed from shop to shop, James picking clothes out for him while Sirius gazed longingly at the sales rack.

"Please don't spend even more money on me, Prongs. I really don't need it."

"Look," James said, throwing a Jack Wills shirt onto a Jack Wills chair for emphasis. Sirius winced. "My parents have known you properly for – what, a week? A week and a half? But you're living with them now, and they're not going to let you go around in disgusting clothes or go without a phone."

"A phone?" Sirius looked startled. "James, come on-"

"No, shut up, Sirius, I'm on a roll. Stop making a fuss because you feel indebted to them or whatever. They literally have so much money, and they're actually gonna spend it on fuck all otherwise. Take the clothes, and shut the hell up. They care about you."

Sirius huffed but gave in. He would deny the warm feeling spreading from his chest to his toes had he been asked about it, but as it was, no one asked, so he basked in the pleasure of being cared about. When James threw a jumper at him, he accepted it without complaint. When James bought the jumper, he didn't make a sound. When James dragged him into a phone shop he followed, albeit with more uncertainty. He managed to redirect James to the second hand phones, although James still bought the most expensive one, almost as if he was making a point. Sirius opened his mouth to protest, but before he could say anything James reminded him, "Millions of pounds. My parents have millions of pounds." Sirius closed his mouth.

That evening, when the pair arrived at the concert hall, Sirius was grateful for the less grotty clothes. It was a smart venue, everything modern and shiny. All sorts of people dressed in nice clothes milled around.

After having collected their tickets, James tried unsuccessfully to navigate them to their seats. In the end, they had to ask several different employees where they were meant to be, much to Sirius' amusement.

The hall itself was enormous. Sirius was sure thousands of people could have been seated. As it was, there were no more than a few hundred people waiting for the concert to begin, murmuring quietly. The orchestra were setting up and Sirius craned his neck to catch a glimpse of Remus. He couldn't see him.

"Where's Remus?" Sirius whispered.

"He's not on immediately," James whispered back.

"When will he be on?"

"I dunno. Shut up."

Sirius quickly found he didn't like classical music. It was boring; all sugary violins and loud timpani. Instead of paying attention, Sirius studied the programme in the dim light. It seemed the main attraction was a Beethoven concerto. After what seemed like endless pieces and a short interval, Remus came on stage wearing a smart suit and a pained expression. It was clear to see he was nervous. But as soon as he sat at the grand piano, nodding subtly at the conductor, Sirius could visibly see him relax. His shoulders lost the tension as he rested his fingers on the keys and closed his eyes. Within the first few notes, Sirius had fallen in love with the music. It was soothing and melancholy and he could just catch a glimpse of Remus' hands dancing up and down the piano.

Sirius glanced down at the programme once more. _The Moonlight Sonata._

"Alright, Moony?"

Remus met his two friends just outside the entrance. Night was falling quickly and he noticed Sirius' new clothes; a pair of intentionally ripped jeans and a well fitting leather jacket. Rather than comment on it, Remus said, "Moony? What the hell?"

"The Moonlight Sonata. Moonlight. Moony. See? A perfect nickname."

"I'd like to apologise for Sirius' nicknaming skills," James said with a grin.

"Don't be rude," Sirius complained, hitting his arm.

"Before either of you kill the other or something ridiculous like that, shall we get going?"

Sirius felt sad sitting on the train back. He could no longer enjoy the views, as night had now engulfed the train, and he realised he wasn't going to see Remus again until he came back for the half term week.

James had fallen asleep and was snoring gently, his nostrils on full view for those around him. Remus was watching James with disgust.

"I won't see you until half term now," Sirius said across the aisle.

Remus tore his gaze away from his sleeping friend. "You what?"

"I won't see you until half term," Sirius repeated. "We're leaving tomorrow morning."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. We'll have to swap phone numbers."

Sirius nodded and Remus settled back into his seat. "Padfoot? Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why did you run away?"

Sirius froze. He could feel his stomach seize up and he waited several moments. He wasn't sure what he was expecting - perhaps for Remus to get the hint and to change the topic of conversation, but he didn't. He sat patiently, waiting to see how Sirius would react.

Eventually, Sirius murmured, "I got in a fight with them." Remus remained quiet. "With my parents. Well, my mum. It started out fine. It was just my school report. It hasn't been that good recently, and they started yelling at me. Expensive school and tutoring and stuff. But – I mean I generally just take it lying down. But this time I didn't really." Sirius paused, but Remus still had nothing to say. "There was a lot of screaming. For a long time. And eventually my dad just lost it and – and he hit me. And I had to leave. Like, he hadn't hit me for years. I was frightened so I just – I just left."

He realised he was beginning to well up and took moment to collect himself, wiping his eyes and breathing in deeply. He could decipher no emotion in Remus other than sympathy and perhaps concern. "So. I got on the train and… And yeah."

"I'm sorry," Remus murmured. Sirius huffed a sad sort of laugh.

"Yeah. Me too."

A/N: I actually quite like this chapter. I hope you did too. Reviews make me feel warm and fuzzy and I love everyone who leaves one.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: OK, I'm entering this chapter to a competition, so I'd better give some background in case the judge doesn't want to read the whole story. The plot up to this point is that Sirius ran away from home to James' house in Wales, where he met James' friends Remus. The pair of them hit it off, and now Sirius has gone back to school in Scotland, they're texting on another. Obviously Sirius isn't on best terms with his family, and Remus plays the piano. I think that's all the information you need for this chapter.

 _Remus in italics_

 **Sirius in bold**

James is underlined

TUESDAY AFTERNOON

[4:14] **Bore da Moony!**

[4:18] _It's four in the afternoon._

[4:20] **So?**

[4:22] _Bore da means good morning._

[4:23] **Goddamit**

[4:24] _How's school?_

[4:25] **I managed to get detention already.**

[4:25] **Apparently you're not meant to break into the swimming pool at midnight.**

[4:26] _What a ludicrous rule._

[4:27] **That's what I said. Anyway, I had to celebrate coming back to school in style.**

[4:28] **For someone reason Minnie didn't quite see it that way.**

[4:29] _Minnie?_

[4:31] **Yeah. You must have heard of Minnie. Or Professor McGonagall, as she prefers to be known.**

[4:33] _You mean your… Head of house?_

[4:34] **The very same.**

[4:36] _You refer to the head of your house as Minnie?_

[4:36] **Usually.**

[4:37] _You're such a public school boy._

[4:40] **Maybe not for much longer.**

[4:42] _What do you mean?_

[4:44] **My parents don't exactly want to pay my fees anymore. I'm not really sure if the school's gonna let me stay in September.**

[4:45] **I have a meeting with the headmaster about it tomorrow afternoon.**

[4:45] **But I feel a bit sick if I think about it for too long.**

[4:46] _What will you do if you can't stay?_

[4:47] **I don't know. The school might make me go into care. I'm not sure it's entirely legal, my staying with the Potters after running away from home.**

[4:48] **But I'd be thrown out of care when I turn sixteen, which will be in September. I guess I'll just pull out of school and get a job somewhere.**

[4:50] _But you won't have any qualifications._

[4:51] **Can we not talk about this?**

[4:52] _Padfoot, you can't pull out of school without getting any GCSEs._

[4:52] **Please?**

[4:53] _OK._

[4:57] _School's shit at the moment._

[4:58] **How come?**

[4:59] _Exams. It's horrible. I should be working right now, actually. I have my English in three weeks._

[4:59] **Shall I leave you to get on?**

[5:01] _Probably. I'll talk to you later, OK?_

[5:02] **Hwyl fawr.**

TUESDAY EVENING

[8:42] _Do you have TV in posh school?_

[8:43] _This has been really concerning me._

[8:51] **Erm, sort of. There's one in the common room, but we can't even watch twelves on that until the ickle year 7s have gone to bed.**

[8:52] **But don't worry. We usually just watch Netflix on James' laptop.**

[8:55] _But no live TV?_

[8:57] **I only really go to the common room if there's a party or I need to blackmail someone or something.**

[8:59] _Both of those activities don't sound like the sort of things teachers condone._

[9:01] **Why do you want to know?**

[9:03] _Smooth topic change._

[9:04] _I want to know because you must miss out on so much great TV. Downton Abbey, for instance._

[9:06] **Ah, don't worry. Mrs Potter always gets the box set of the latest series for Christmas, so James nicks it and we binge watch it in January.**

[9:07] _Thank God. I'm not sure you could truly be considered a Brit if you don't watch Downton Abbey._

[9:09] **It's basically required by law. Big fan of bad period drama, are we?**

[9:11] _The biggest. Why do you think I'm friends with James?_

[9:12] _His life is like a bad period drama._

[9:13] _Whenever I talk to you guys I feel like I'm talking to a character in an Enid Blyton book._

[9:14] **Wait, really?**

[9:14] _Really._

[9:15] **I didn't think we were that posh.**

[9:17] _Oh my God._

[9:18] _I have to introduce you to some of my friends. They'd eat your poor, posh hearts for breakfast._

[9:20] **Well, now I'm just scared.**

[9:22] _Oh, don't be. I'm only joking._

[9:22] _Sort of._

[9:23] _Anyway, I need sleep._

[9:24] **Woah, wait.**

[9:25] **You can't leave after telling me that.**

[9:26] **What if I have nightmares?**

[9:28] _Of girls in traditional dresses yelling at you in Welsh?_

[9:29] **Sounds more of James' kind of dream.**

[9:31] _Gross._

[9:32] _I'm going to bed._

[9:33] **Night.**

[9:34] _Nos da_

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

[3:21] Have you spoken to Padfoot recently?

[3:25] _Yeah, I spoke to him yesterday._

[3:26] _Why?_

[3:27] Was he OK?

[3:28] _Sort of. He was really terrified of his meeting with your headmaster._

[3:30] What meeting?

[3:32] _?_

[3:32] _Didn't he tell you?_

[3:33] _His parents won't pay his school fees. He has to meet with Dumbledore to see if he's going to be allowed to stay in school._

[3:34] What?

[3:35] _He doesn't have any money to stay in school. I think he was really upset about it. He was talking about leaving school altogether in September and getting a job._

[3:36] Fuck.

[3:37] _Shit, I should have made him talk about it._

[3:38] _Is there anything I can do? Will he be OK?_

[3:39] I hope he'll be OK. He might do something crazy, I don't know.

[3:40] Could you just stick by your phone in case he decides to tell you about the meeting?

[3:41] _Of course._

[3:42] Thanks Moony. And try not to freak him out. He was really fragile today.

[3:43] _Keep me updated._

[3:30] _When's your meeting?_

[4:10] _Padfoot?_

[4:20] Has he texted you yet?

[4:21] _No. I asked him when his meeting was almost an hour ago._

[4:23] Fuck. I can't find him anywhere. 

[4:25] _Look, I've only known Sirius for about a week, but I think he'll come out of hiding when he's ready. It's probably best not to push him, right?_

[4:26] I guess so. 

[6:16] **Oh my God, Moony, I can stay!**

[6:17] _He just told me he can stay in school._

[6:18] Thank God. Tell him to come back to the dorm, will you?

[6:17] _How come?_

[6:18] **I'm staying on a scholarship! I have to take part in loads of extra curricular activities, and I need to work really hard, and I can't really get into trouble anymore, but still! I can stay!**

[6:19] _Fantastic. I'm so pleased._

[6:20] _Look, James is really worried about you. He's been looking for you all afternoon. Will you go back to the dorm?_

[6:22] **Right, yeah, course.**

[6:23] **I'm so happy.**

[6:24] _Good luck with staying out of trouble._

SATURDAY MORNING

[11:24] **Guess what I have to do as a part of my scholarship.**

[11:24] _What?_

[11:24] **Take part in the school musical.**

[11:25] _Wow. Can you even sing?_

[11:25] **Yeah, course. I used to take part in it anyway, until it was deemed uncool.**

[11:26] **But I'm forcing Prongs and Wormtail to do it as well.**

[11:27] _Wormtail is the friend I haven't met, right? Peter?_

[11:27] **That's right.**

[11:27] **Although it has to be said, it didn't take James that much convincing.**

[11:28] _How come?_

[11:28] **His crush is auditioning.**

[11:29] **And since Prongs and I are taking part, it took Wormtail no convincing at all. I mean, he's joined the lighting crew or something, but still.**

[11:30] _What's the musical?_

[11:30] **Grease.**

[11:30] _Ah, a classic. When're the auditions?_

[11:31] **This afternoon. Fortunately, I know the musical backwards.**

[11:31] _Why am I not surprised._

[11:31] _Which part are you going for?_

[11:32] **Kinnicky. James is auditioning for Danny.**

[11:34] _Well, good luck. Let me know how they go._

[11:35] **Certainly.**

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

[2:31] **Audition went well.**

[2:31] _What did you have to do?_

[2:32] **Sing a bit. Read a part of the script.**

[2:33] **Now we're just hanging around the stage.**

[2:34] _Are there gonna be call backs?_

[2:34] **Yep.**

[2:35] **Exactly like High School Musical.**

[2:35] _I expect nothing less._

[2:38] **Other people are auditioning. Prongs and I are struggling not to draw attention to ourselves while we make fun of them.**

[2:39] _Don't laugh at them, Padfoot._

[2:41] **But it's funny.**

[2:41] **Some of them are so bad.**

[2:43] _Be kind._

[2:43] **It's exactly like those High School Musical auditions.**

[2:44] _Nerd._

[2:46] **Anyway, how's your weekend going?**

[2:46] _Work, work, work, and more work._

[2:46] _Also there are loads of rehearsals for the Eisteddfod now._

[2:48] **Eisteddfod?**

[2:50] _Yeah. The Welsh music festival? Pretty much all the Welsh speaking schools take part._

[2:50] **Ooh, are you going to sing?**

[2:51] _Yeah, no. I play the piano for all the choirs and things._

[2:51] _Oh, I'll tell you what did happen this week._

[2:51] _My friend got in huge trouble for dyeing her hair._

[2:52] **What colour?**

[2:53] _Pink. She looks like candyfloss._

[2:53] **What did the school do?**

[2:55] _She's literally a star pupil. She's practically famous. She's this singer, see. They can't expel her, not really. And she refuses to dye it back – she screamed when the nurse tried to put something in her hair._

[2:56] _So she's suspended for a bit. She'll probably be thrown out if she tries dyeing it again. They'll just wait for it to grow out._

[2:57] **Brilliant.**

[4:08] **They've finished the auditions.**

[4:08] **Oh wait. They're not doing call backs.**

[4:09] _Good luck._

[4:14] **I got the part!**

[4:14] **So did James!**

[4:15] _Congratulations._

[4:15] **The competition wasn't great in all fairness.**

[4:16] _Still. Well done._

[4:16] **Oh my God.**

[4:16] _What?_

[4:17] **You know James' crush, Lily?**

[4:17] _Yeah_

[4:18] **She got the part of Rizzo.**

[4:18] **I'm probably gonna have to snog her.**

[4:19] **James does not look happy.**

[4:21] _I can imagine._

[4:22] **He's giving me death stares.**

[4:22] **Actually I'd better hide.**

[4:22] **Bye Moony.**

[4:23] _Bye Padfoot._

A/N: No, I definitely didn't steal this format and idea from Text Talk. How dare you suggest such a thing. By the way, if anyone thinks I'm breaking any rules to do with plagiarism and things, will you let me know? Leave a review – you guys are so nice to me, honestly.


	6. Chapter 6

MONDAY AFTERNOON

[12:39] **First rehearsal now woohoo**

[12:41] _You have to rehearse at lunchtime?_

[12:41] **Well, yeah, don't you?**

[12:41] _Yeah but I don't live in my school._

[12:45] **That's true.**

[12:45] _Which part are you practising?_

[12:46] **I think this is a team meeting bit, where they get all the cast members together and give us a pep talk and our schedules.**

[12:46] **It's really boring.**

[12:46] **Which is why I'm talking to you.**

[12:47] _I'm honoured._

[12:50] **Our drama teacher's really dramatic.**

[12:55] _I can't tell if you were making a pun or being stupid._

[12:55] **Huh?**

[12:56] **Oh right.**

[12:56] **Being stupid, mostly.**

[12:57] _Right._

[12:59] _I have to go to lessons and actually learn something, instead of messing around and pretending to be people I'm not._

[1:01] **Rude.**

[1:02] **I'll set Mrs Fitzgerald on you.**

[5:07] _Fitzgerald?_

[5:07] _Your drama teacher's name is Fitzgerald._

[5:08] **Yeah?**

[5:08] **Why's that questionable?**

[5:09] _It's so posh!_

[5:09] **OK, you're gonna have to stop with the whole posh thing, Moonshine, before I tell you I'm Conservative.**

[5:11] _If that's true, I'm literally terminating our friendship right now._

[5:12] **James is a Tory!**

[5:12] _Just tell me it isn't true, or I'm going to have to rant about my ancestors._

[5:13] **I don't know why, but that sounds threatening.**

[5:13] **OK, it's not true. I'm a socialist down to the bone. My parents have never voted for anything other than Green.**

[5:14] _Good._

FRIDAY

 **Dear Moony,**

 **I'm terribly sorry for the distinct lack of texting over the last few days, but alas, my phone has been confiscated. I can confirm that it was definitely, absolutely, positively not because I was texting in class. Although if it makes you feel any better, I was trying to text you.**

 **Prongs is trying to tell me I'm a nerd for writing a letter, although I don't care, partly because I can pretend I'm on Downton Abbey, and partly because every time he insults me, I can throw a chip at his head. Wormtail is trying to read the letter inconspicuously, but again, that just gives me an excuse to pelt him with food. He's trying to convince me that there's no such thing as secrets within the Marauders. Apparently, when you live with the same people for four years, quite a lot gets left out in the open. It's not as if I'm writing anything particularly illicit, but still, it's the point that stands, Moony!**

 **I've just been invited to Dorcas Meadowes' birthday party. Although it's being held in our common room, so it's not as if I wasn't going anyway. She's playing Sandy in Grease, which means she'll definitely have to get off with James, on stage, in front of everyone – a fact I like to remind her of, often. It's not like they hate each other exactly, or at all, really. It's just probably going to be quite an uncomfortable experience, made worse by the fact that James has a huge crush on her friend. That's Lily, by the way.**

 **Anyway, I've already written over a page, and I'd better end this before Wormtail and Prongs move on to jokes about you being my secret lover, despite the fact that they know full well who I'm writing to. So this is goodbye for now, dear Moony.**

 **Padfoot**

TUESDAY

 _Dear Padfoot,_

 _I'm sorry to hear that you've had to give up your phone, though I can't say I really blame your teacher. I thought you were meant to be behaving? Also, for how long have they confiscated your phone? Really, Padfoot, I expected better from you._

 _I might say, it was a pleasant surprise to find that I had a letter to read over my cereal, especially considering the only post I usually get are parcels of books from Amazon. I now wish I had opened the letter with a knife, like I was really on Downton Abbey._

 _I'm afraid the fact of the matter is, my dear friend, that you are a nerd. This is only highlighted by your friendship with me. You need only ask Marlene – anyone who is friends with me is, almost by definition, as lame as hell. When I ask what that makes her, she usually hits me over the head with the nearest available object. Often her school bag._

 _I hope you have fun at Dorcas Meadowes' party. Try not to break too many girls' hearts, and get Prongs as drunk as you like. A drunk Prongs is usually my favourite sort. I expect a full review of the party in your next letter, provided you can actually remember it._

 _Again, very little has been happening here in Wales. I've been revising for my English exam, which means studying a lot of Macbeth. Now, I love Shakespeare as much as the next person, but there's really only so much I can take before I break. We have yet to find out how much that is._

 _I have also discovered that I do not give the smallest fuck about three things; chemistry, biology, and physics. Unfortunately, I do give a fuck about my results, so I have to study them pretty much constantly as well. It's heartbreaking; it really is._

 _Anyway, I've also written well over a page. I'd hate to embarrass you in front of your friends, so I suppose I'll stop and lie in front of the TV for a bit, now. A good day to you, Padfoot._

 _Moony_

THURSDAY

 **Dear Maggie Smith,**

 **Alas, I won't get my phone back until tomorrow. I mean, I guess that means I'll probably speak to you before you get this letter, but whatever.**

 **I actually got two letters in the post this morning. One was from you – I recognised your handwriting (it's really bad by the way) and opened it with a knife – and the other was from my parents. I've been officially disowned. I don't know how officially, since if it's legal, the authorities will know that I'm technically homeless. I dunno what's gonna happen to me if they know I'm homeless, but I don't think it'll be good. I don't know why I was so surprised to get the letter. Like, I don't know what I was expecting. But – even despite everything – I didn't really expect them to hate me? Sorry, I'm being stupid.**

 **The Grease rehearsals are going well. James is unbearable, naturally, but Wormtail and I have taken to tackling him whenever he tries to practice his part, which got interesting when we were in the cafeteria. But he has convinced me to give him dancing lessons (apparently the lead in a musical has to dance, which I think is a really novel idea). According to Wormtail, not everyone was given dancing lessons from the age of three? Like, what sort of nonsense is this? What did people do when they attended balls? What the fuck?**

 **Prongs is a horrible dancer, by the way. I mean really atrocious. He steps on my toes and stares at his feet the whole time. I have no idea what will happen when he has to do the proper disco dancing bit. He's probably going to kill Dorcas.**

 **Anyway, I'd better head off. I have a study date with Alice and Wormtail in the library (I know, I hate libraries too), and the jokes about my lover are getting ridiculous.**

 **See ya, Moony,**

 **Padfoot**

SATURDAY MORNING

[11:32] _What the hell? You were disowned?_

[11:32] _Are you OK?_

[11:44] **What? Yeah, I'm fine.**

[11:45] **Well, I was.**

[11:57] _Was?_

[11:58] **Could I call you, actually?**

-calling Padfoot-

" _Are you alright, mate?"_

" **Actually, I got in a fight."**

" _What?"_

" **Yeah. With my brother. I'm just waiting outside the headmaster's office."**

" _Wait – you have a brother?"_

" **Didn't you know? Regulus."**

" _What happened?"_

" **He started yelling some pretty nasty stuff at me. I was already feeling pretty fragile, you know, after the letter and all that. And, I mean… Yeah."**

" _Oh, Sirius."_

" **Don't… Don't do that."**

" _Do what?"_

" **Don't sound like a disappointed parent. I don't need that."**

" _Well – OK, sorry. Do you want to talk about your brother?"_

" **Not really. I mean… It's always been the two of us, y'know? Obviously I met Prongs and Wormtail when I went to school, but even then, during the holidays and stuff, it was always us against them."**

" _You against your parents?"_

" **Yeah. And I felt really rotten when I left him alone in that house. Like, I'd long since stopped giving in to their bullshit, and he was the angel child, and we didn't even talk to each other anymore, but still. I left him. And, I dunno, I'd had this idea…"**

" _You'd had what idea?"_

" **Don't worry about it."**

" _Are you sure?"_

" **I – maybe he could have come with me. When I turn sixteen, I inherit my batty old uncle's flat, and I was going to ask if he wanted to run away as well. I don't think my parents would have allowed it. He'd still be underage and everything. It was a stupid idea in the first place."**

" _It's not a stupid idea."_

" **It doesn't make much difference if the idea was stupid or not now, does it? He still hates me."**

" _Are you – are you crying?"_

" **I've got to go."**

" _Good luck."_

A/N: So I'm going away to America on Thursday, and I'm not entirely sure the laptop I'll be using will be able to access the internet. I'll try and write as much as possible while on holiday, so while there may be no updates for the next couple of weeks, with any luck when I get back, there'll be several in rapid succession. Sorry.

Leave a review!


	7. Chapter 7

MONDAY MORNING

[07:02] _First exam today. Wish me luck._

[08:15] **Good luck!**

MONDAY AFTERNOON

[05:17] **How did the exam go?**

[05:20] _It was OK, I think. It was English. I could answer the essay question, at least._

[05:22] **Always a good start.**

[05:26] _I agree. I just have two more this week, then four next week, so I'm going to be locking my phone away most of the time. Sorry if I'm not around to talk much._

[05:31] **That's OK, I understand. I actually have mocks and course work over the next couple of weeks, so I should probably knuckle down and do some work or something.**

[05:31] _Probably. Anyway, I've got to go, I have biology tomorrow._

[05:34] **Good luck. With like, all your exams.**

[05:36] _Thanks. See you, Padfoot._

[05:36] **Hwyl fawr.**

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

[04:50] _Fuck yeah, Eurovision._

[04:55] **Big fan of Eurovision, are we?**

[04:59] _My family have all come round for a huge Eurovision party._

[04:59] _Bets on Sweden winning._

[05:04] **Wow, you're really in to this shit.**

[05:08] _It's a competition between countries entering crappy songs._

[05:08] _What's not to like?_

[05:09] **It's a summary of our continent, and the great love shared between our countries.**

[05:10] **Except Britain, no one likes us.**

[05:15] _Even we don't like us. Just look at Scotland and Wales._

[05:32] **Sure, make England look bad.**

[05:40] _I think Wales should enter separately._

[06:14] **Yeah, fuck England.**

[06:14] **Apart from the half of me that is actually English.**

[06:22] _Fuck only maybe half of England then._

[06:22] **Shit.**

[06:22] **Oxfordshire and Yorkshire can stay.**

[06:22] **And the north-east cause it's cool.**

[06:22] **And London. I guess that's where I'm from.**

[06:25] _I quite like Cornwall, I guess that can stay too._

[06:26] **Also, the West Country have cool accents.**

[06:37] _So maybe fuck only a quarter of England._

[06:38] **Birmingham can go.**

[06:39] _And Liverpool._

[06:39] _I'm also willing to sacrifice Essex._

[06:39] **Oh.**

[06:39] **But the Beatles.**

[06:40] _Good point, not Liverpool then._

[07:28] _Oh my God. My nain's cooking._

[07:35] **Who's nain?**

[07:35] _My grandma._

[07:36] _She keeps swearing and I don't know why._

[07:36] **Evacuate the house.**

[08:53] **Has Nain's cooking killed you yet?**

[08:56] _I've eaten so much._

[08:58] **Same, I've eaten hundreds of illicit crisps. I think they came from under Wormtail's bed, but I don't want to ask.**

[08:58] **Favourite song so far?**

[08:59] _Graham Norton._

[09:01] **He's a pretty cool guy.**

[09:09] _He's brutal._

[09:23] **What the fuck. The piano's on fire.**

[09:23] _I know. D'you reckon it's real?_

[09:24] **It looks quite realistic.**

[09:24] _Although I don't see why they'd set a perfectly good piano on fire._

[09:25] **BECAUSE IT'S COOL.**

[09:25] **GOD MOONY.**

[09:25] _Rock n roll._

[09:26] **100% punk rock.**

[09:26] **You wouldn't understand.**

[09:27] _I'm pretty punk right now. I'm wearing panda socks._

[09:28] **Dude, panda socks? I'm so jealous.**

[09:29] _Tell me about it._

[09:29] _OK, I've got to go, everyone's yelling at me in Welsh, I've got to hand in my phone._

[09:30] **Tell them I say bore da.**

SATURDAY EVENING

[06:42] _Send help. Marlene's dragging me to a party._

[06:42] **Who's Marlene?**

[06:45] _Remember the dyed hair girl?_

[06:50] **Ohhh yeah.**

[06:51] **Anyway no way. You bitching about a party will be way too interesting to miss out on.**

[06:54] _You're no use, then._

[06:54] _She's trying to get me to wear mascara and eye liner._

[06:57] **Not your style?**

[07:01] _More like I don't have a death wish. I'll get beaten to a pulp if I turn up looking like Marlene's clown._

[07:04] **I can respect your desire to stay alive.**

[07:04] **What's so bad about parties?**

[07:34] _Well for one thing alcohol's gross and everyone keeps pushing drinks at me._

[07:34] _And since I stay sober, everyone's annoying and boring and I end up being the one to get all my friends home safely._

[07:34] **Poor babe.**

[07:35] _And for another, I can't dance for shit._

[07:41] **I'm an awesome dancer. I had to learn to ballroom dance.**

[07:46] _You'll have to teach me because I never have anything to do at parties. Not to ballroom dance, though. Obviously._

[07:46] _Anyway what does your evening hold?_

[07:50] **Well, we're watching Eurovision in the dorm. We invited Lily and Dorcas up, too, since James still fancies the hell out of Lily.**

[07:51] **We've found this amazing trashy CBBC show about a dance studio full of teenagers in America.**

[07:51] **We're addicted.**

[07:59] _Urgh, I'm so jealous._

[08:00] _We're at the stage where everyone makes out mindlessly._

[08:00] _I can't believe I've let Marlene drag me to this._

[08:01] _I mean, Mam made me come too. She thinks I've been working too hard or something._

[08:04] **Oh yeah, how are exams going?**

[08:06] _They're OK. Three down, four to go._

[08:06] _I wish I wasn't taking two evenings in a row off, but Mam and Dad and Marlene ganged up on me._

[08:09] **Concentrated work then breaks are good for you, right?**

[08:11] _I guess so._

[08:16] **Oh shit, truth or dare is starting.**

[08:16] _Is the evening really worth it without truth or dare?_

[08:31] _OK, I haven't heard from you in quarter of an hour. Is anyone dead?_

[08:37] **Sorry, Moons.**

[08:37] _I didn't mean_

[08:37] _Doesn't matter._

[08:38] **Well, so far, we've discovered that Dorcas has a crush on some guy in the year above, and that Wormtail is willing to give his mortal enemy a lap dance.**

[08:42] _Who's Wormtail's enemy?_

[08:46] **Our arch enemy is this guy in our rival house.**

[08:47] **Snivellus.**

[08:50] _Is that what his parents christened him?_

[08:50] _Also, rival house? What the hell?_

[08:54] **Oh, well, I'm in Gryffindor, and we've always hated people in Slytherin. It's like a tradition.**

[08:57] _What kind of fucking school is this?_

[09:06] **Oh shit sorry Moony.**

[09:07] _Sorry?_

[09:07] _For what?_

[09:18] **I've got to tell you something really important**

[09:19] **I have the biggest crush on you**

[09:19] **I'm really annoying. I won't shut up about you. My friends hate me for it.**

[09:19] **But there's no way u should date me because I'd be a terrible boyfriend.**

[09:21] _Right._

[09:24] **OK, I'm sorry again.**

[09:24] _What was that?_

[09:25] **My dare was to give up my phone and my friends thought it would be hilarious to tell you that I fancy you.**

[09:25] **They're pissing themselves now.**

[09:26] _You can tell James to go fuck himself. I don't actually know your other friends, but you can especially tell James that he's a wank stain._

[09:26] _That was a weak as fuck dare. Also, he's generally a prick._

[09:27] **Way ahead of you, mate.**

[09:30] _OK, Marlene's making me dance. I've got to go._

[09:31] **Be safe.**

SUNDAY EVENING

[08:49] _How was the rest of truth or dare?_

[08:54] **Fairly uneventful. We gave James a makeover and put it all over Instagram. There were like lipstick stains on his face and we put his hair in tiny ponytails. It was great.**

[08:55] _I'll go and look for them now in a minute._

[08:58] **How was your dancing?**

[09:00] _Disastrous. I'm never going to a party again._

[09:02] **Aw, Moonbeam, don't be like that.**

[09:05] _I can't help it. Parties just aren't my thing._

[09:07] **Wait till you party with us.**

[09:10] _Yeah, not happening._

[09:11] **Nonsense. You'd love to come to one of our parties!**

[09:14] _Oh yeah, humiliation and alcohol._

[09:14] _My two favourite things._

[09:15] **Really, my Welsh Rarebit. Be a little more adventurous.**

[09:18] _I'm really adventurous!_

[09:18] _I climb mountains for fun!_

[09:20] **I know, you just won't give in to the pressures of teenage life. Society's ideals will not break you.**

[09:23] _Never give in._

[09:24] **Stay strong, Moonshine.**

WEDNESDAY EVENING

[07:36] _That's it! I can't take it anymore._

[07:36] _I'm done with exams._

[07:41] **Aw, Moony.**

[07:43] _I need to think about literally anything other than exams._

[07:43] _How's Grease going?_

[07:45] **It's pretty fun. I'm stupidly busy, but I'm enjoying myself.**

[07:46] _How are Lily and James getting on?_

[07:48] **WELL**

[07:48] _Oh boy_

[07:50] **We were rehearsing that cinema scene – you know in the car – so Dorcas and James kept snogging, which meant that Lily and I were sitting at the back of the auditorium mocking them, which is what we do basically all the time. But this time Lily was asking questions like, does James like her and stuff. My theory is that she's jealous. It won't be long until we hear wedding bells.**

[07:52] _This is big news. How's making fun of James going?_

[07:55] **Wormtail's got it covered.**

[07:58] _If you need back up, I am happy to offer my services._

[08:01] **So how's your music thing going?**

[08:12] _What, the Eisteddfod? It's mostly really boring._

[08:16] **Don't you like performing?**

[08:18] _Sure, but our teachers are stressy and keep yelling at us, plus the choirs just sing the same songs over and over again._

[08:18] _Also there's nothing to gossip about, unlike James and his new girlfriend._

[08:20] **Don't jinx it, Moonstar.**

[08:23] _Moonstar? Really?_

[08:24] **I think you're a star, no matter what other people say.**

[08:27] _Wow. Thanks Padfoot._

[08:31] **You know what I haven't done?**

[08:32] _What?_

[08:34] **I haven't pulled a prank in weeks.**

[08:37] _Oh dear God._

[08:41] **Of course, we have our annual end of year prank, but I think we need a little taster. Or to make that one really spectacular.**

[08:43] _Provided it's not illegal, I'm not getting involved._

[08:45] **But Moondust! You have to be the brains behind our prank.**

[08:48] _Do I really?_

[08:50] **This is the highest honour a man can be paid, Moony, don't be silly.**

[08:52] _Of course. Because of the two of us, I'm the silly one._

[08:55] **Yes, dear, don't be slow.**

[08:57] **OK, a meeting's being called.**

[08:57] **I'll give you a summary whenever your exams are over.**

[09:00] _I'll wait with abaited breath._

[09:01] **That's what I like to hear.**

A/N: Ah, I'm so sorry it's been such a long time! I dedicate this to A Fellow Writer. I'm so sorry I couldn't update on your birthday – I hope you had a great day. Also, I'm not so sure about this chapter, so if you guys could let me know what you think, that could be great.


	8. Chapter 8

MONDAY AFTERNOON

[03:23] _Fuck yeah, exams are over._

"Marls, could I talk to you?"

Remus and Marlene, in post exam celebration, were sitting on a craggy rock looking out to sea, their ties loosened and the top buttons of their shirts undone, each looking every bit the teenager.

"I hate to break it to you, mate, but we sort of already are."

Remus shoved her gently. "Wanker. Come on, I may have a dilemma."

"Provided it has nothing to do with exams, I'm all ears."

"Well…" Remus ran a hand through his hair and kicked at the rock. "You remember James' friend who stayed over Easter? Sirius?"

"The one you've been texting nonstop ever since?"

Remus exhaled heavily. "Yeah."

"The outrageously hot one?"

"Wait, how do you even know that?"

"Bit of Facebook stalking here and there."

"Anyway." Remus sighed heavily again. "I think I might have a planet sized crush on him, Marls."

"And you think he's straight?" Remus appreciated Marlene's understanding. Having known each other since they were four years old, there was rarely a need for questions or answers.

He shrugged dejectedly. "I mean, he's never said as much, but I'm pretty sure he is."

Marlene pushed herself off the rock. "Let's go and get some milkshakes," she suggested, waiting for Remus to follow suit. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

A chilly wind blew in from the sea as the pair of them ambled across the beach. "You'd never think it was the beginning of summer, would you?" Marlene remarked. Remus grunted in reply. Marlene rolled her eyes at her grumpy friend, but fell quiet.

They walked in comfortable silence, Remus kicking at any pebbles or empty bottles that got in his way, until they reached the Lupins' café and were sitting with their milkshakes.

"OK, so I have a plan."

Remus looked at her inquisitively over the top of his milkshake.

"First, we have to figure out whether or not he's queer."

"Genius," Remus replied sarcastically. "By the way, Sirius, I have a huge hard on for you and it would be great if you had the same for me."

"Don't be stupid," Marlene reprimanded, flicking some of her milkshake at him. "I have a plan for that as well."

"Go on then, o holy one," Remus chortled. "Tell me about your glorious plan."

"Step one to get Remus laid," Marlene began, clearing her throat. "You come out to him, which in turn gives him the opportunity to come out to you."

Remus opened his mouth to make another snarky comment, but deflated after a pause. "But what if he ends up being a homophobe and hating me?" he muttered into his drink. "I wouldn't be surprised. He has a really fucked up family, from what I've heard."

"Well, then he's not worth keeping," Marlene reasoned.

"But I really like him," Remus said in an even smaller voice. Marlene leaned across the table to tap him sharply across the nose.

"Don't be pathetic, cariad. It's gonna be fine. You'll still have me, whatever happens.

"Lucky me," Remus grumbled, but a smile graced his face. "Thanks, Marls."

"Yeah, well don't get all soppy on me now," she huffed, rolling her eyes, although she shared Remus' smile. "D'you wanna go and meet up with the others like we said we would?"

"Go on then."

[04:08] **Huzzah! How was your last exam?**

[07:17] _I mean, it was physics, which makes it pretty much automatically shit. But they're over!_

[07:19] **I know. It's not long before I come back to Llanfairpwll now.**

[07:19] _That's true._

[07:20] _When's your performance of Grease, by the way?_

[07:26] **Oh**

[07:26] **Uh**

[07:26] **A week tomorrow**

[07:28] _Are you guys ready?_

[07:29] **Not even slightly.**

[07:32] _In my school, pretty much every time, the day before the performance, no one knows their words, no one knows where they're meant to be, and it's the shittest thing ever._

[07:32] _The headmaster always considers cancelling the show. But then, somehow, everyone pulls it off and the show's a hit._

[07:33] **At least we know our words.**

[07:35] _You're already more prepared than us._

[07:37] **So how are you celebrating the end of your exams?**

[07:42] _I'm sitting in my friend's kitchen, playing monopoly._

[07:44] **Wow**

[07:44] **Moony really knows how to party**

[07:46] _Better than that, it's the Welsh version of monopoly._

[07:49] **I didn't even know that existed.**

[07:51] _My friends' parents are crazy Welsh people who would sooner shoot an English person than look at them._

[07:54] **Does that mean you're speaking Welsh now?**

[07:57] _Well, yeah._

[07:57] _I'm on a sheep farm as well, if it makes you happy._

[08:00] **No way**

[08:00] _Way._

[08:10] **I kinda wish I was playing monopoly. I appear to have lost Wormtail and Prongs.**

[08:12] _Poor babe._

[08:16] **Shower me in sympathy.**

[08:17] **Oh wait no worries they're back.**

[08:17] **Apparently they had detention.**

[08:24] _You weren't meant to be with them?_

[08:26] **Nope. You know me, Moony. I've been keeping on the straight and narrow.**

[08:28] _Right, of course. I forgot you were the epitome of good behaviour._

[08:31] **I don't appreciate your tone, young man.**

[08:34] _We're texting._

[08:35] **Shut up.**

[08:38] _OK, gotta go. My friends have some big secret to tell me._

[08:42] **Sounds interesting. See you later.**

WEDNESDAY EVENING

[05:27] **Yay illegal cinema trip**

[05:42] _What happened to behaving?_

[05:43] **It got boring.**

[05:44] **We decided we deserve a break from rehearsal.**

[05:46] _What are you going to see?_

[05:49] **Don't know yet. Maybe the Fantastic Four.**

[05:53] _Hasn't that had terrible reviews?_

[05:56] **Shut up. It's only an excuse to eat popcorn and break out of school.**

[05:58] _Can't argue with that._

[05:58] _What's your master plan to get out of school?_

[06:02] **We walk across the grounds until they can't see us from the school, then trespass on some farms, then get on a bus to the local town.**

[06:05] _I feel like I'm talking to a criminal mastermind._

[06:05] _Should I call the police?_

[06:07] **Apparently I'm jeopardising this whole operation by texting while walking.**

[06:10] _We can't have that. Good luck, soldier._

[06:37] **What was your friend's secret?**

[06:41] _Oh! That was big news._

[6:43] **Actually, you hardly ever talk about your friends. I talk about mine all the time.**

[06:45] _Well, Marlene has insisted on the status of BFF, then our other two friends are Alys and Frank._

[06:45] _The secret was that Alys and Frank have been dating each other for almost four months and they only told me and Marlene on Monday._

[06:48] **Wow.**

[06:51] _I know. I mean, Marlene and I already know, because Marlene """"""""accidentally""""""" read Alys' text conversations over her shoulder. But she yelled at them for like ten minutes before laughing at them and giving them hugs._

[06:53] **Marlene sounds like a handful.**

[06:55] _You'll meet her if you and James come to the Eisteddfod._

[06:58] **Oh, that singing competition thing?**

[06:58] **I'm sure I can convince James to come and watch you sing.**

[06:59] **And Wormtail might be coming to stay with Prongs over half term.**

[07:01] _It's a shame I'm not here for most of it._

[07:04] **No?**

[07:06] _No. I'm going up north to see my dad's family. I'm only here for the first weekend._

[07:08] **Shame.**

[07:09] _I know. Hey, are you OK about your family now?_

[07:11] **I guess. I'm actually about to go into the cinema. Could I maybe call you tomorrow or something?**

[07:14] _Of course. Literally all I have planned is messing around with the piano._

[07:15] _Enjoy your film._

THURSDAY EVENING

CALLING MOONY

" _Helo, Remus sy' 'ma?"_

" **Moony?"**

" _Oh, hey Padfoot."_

" **Were you just speaking Welsh?"**

" _Yeah. I don't actually know that many people who don't speak Welsh."_

" **Really?"**

" _One might even say seriously."_

" **Fuck off. How did you learn English, if everyone you know speaks Welsh?"**

" _Well, at first I didn't. I couldn't speak any English until I was at least four."_

" **Wow."**

" _But then I started watching TV and taught myself like that."_

" **How inspirational."**

" _I know, right. I should write a book. How was your film?"_

" **We actually ended up sitting in McDonald's for two hours. Then we were thrown out for throwing chips around."**

" _But your scary head of house didn't catch you sneaking back in?"_

" **Nope. It was all clear."**

" _Hey, what was the outcome of that prank planning session from, like, weeks ago now?"_

" **Oh yeah! All will be revealed."**

" _Huh?"_

" **Patience, dear Moony."**

" _OK, despite being hundreds of miles away from you and all your trouble making, I'm still feeling nervous about what you've got planned."_

" **Which is how it should be."**

" _Of course."_

" **What I will say is that Reg will be at the centre of most of our pranks."**

" _Your brother?"_

" **Yeah."**

" _Things aren't really getting better between the two of you, then."_

" **That's one way of putting it."**

" _Have your family written to you again?"_

" **Quite regularly. I usually just throw the letters out. Or set fire to them. McGonagall doesn't like that one so much."**

" _Or anyone who's near you at the time, I'm sure."_

" **I think they keep trying to tell me that I can come back if I apologise and behave. But – well – I mean, I don't want to, but I kind of do."**

" _What do you want, Padfoot?"_

" **I want them to change. I want them to be like a normal family, like the Potters. I can't go back to how it was, you know?"**

" _I know."_

" **Because they were awful, Moony. We got in terrible fights, all the time, that would go on for hours. And I mean, they didn't beat me every day or something, but when I ran away, that wasn't the first time someone had hit me. But I still love them. I think."**

" _Hey, Padfoot, that's OK."_

" **Even though I shouldn't, and even though I'm mad to feel it, I still want to live with my family. I love the Potters, but it's not the same. I don't know what's wrong with me."**

" _Nothing's wrong with you, Sirius. You're not wrong for loving your family even if they're awful. Come on, you're OK. It'll be fine."_

" **Yeah. I know. I'm sorry."**

" _Well, don't be sorry. I don't mind."_

" **Thanks."**

" _Anytime. It's getting kind of late. Are you going to be OK?"_

" **Yeah, I'll be fine. Sleep well, Moony."**

" _Nos da, Padfoot."_

A/N: H ey guys, I thought I'd mention that you can find me on Tumblr at kinkyremus, if that's your thing. You should absolutely come and talk to me about wolfstar and this fic, if you feel like it. If you do follow me, let me know and I will love you forever.

Otherwise, leave a review!


	9. Chapter 9

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

[03:02] **OK, I can't take much more of this.**

[03:02] _Much more of what?_

[03:02] **We've been rehearsing since ten o'clock this morning. I'm so beyond bored.**

[03:03] _Ohhhh yeah, how's that going?_

[03:03] **It's actually going OK. We have our dress rehearsal tomorrow.**

[03:03] _Do you have a good costume?_

[03:04] **I have every intention to steal the leather jacket and replace the T-Birds logo with the Marauders.**

[03:04] _I've been meaning to ask. Why the Marauders?_

[03:05] **You mean why the name?**

[03:06] _Yeah._

[03:15] **Well, Professor McGonagall called us a maraudering band of buffoons, so we googled what maraudering meant, since our number one priority in this school is to better our education, decided that maraudering band of buffoons was too long, and went with the Marauders.**

[03:15] _Does anyone call you that apart from yourselves?_

[03:15] **Well, not technically, but I thought Minnie looked pretty chuffed when she found out she had named us.**

[03:16] _Minnie being Professor McGonagall?_

[03:16] **Correct.**

[03:17] **Oops, spoke too soon. The set just collapsed.**

[03:17] _Oh my God, really?_

[03:18] **Yep. I think our drama teacher's about to cry.**

[03:18] _Wait, haven't you got a main role?_

[03:18] **Yeah.**

[03:19] _Shouldn't you be on stage?_

[03:19] **I may or may not be discreetly texting on stage.**

[03:19] _Oh my God. They've let you get away with that?_

[03:20] **They're rehearsing all the really boring parts where all I have to do is stand around and look hot.**

[03:20] **I mean, that's kind of what I do during the whole thing, but whatever.**

[03:21] _I can't believe what you get away with in school._

[03:25] **Yay I'm on a break.**

[03:25] **Although less yay because they're doing the bit where Prongs snogs Dorcas.**

[03:26] **His kissing leaves a lot to be desired.**

[03:26] _I assume you're speaking from personal experience?_

[03:26] **I hope you're not joking about the love Prongs and I share.**

[03:27] **I suppose you could say we're hopelessly devoted.**

[03:27] _That joke isn't even worth a reaction._

[03:27] _Just trust that I'm staring at my phone blankly._

[03:28] **Lily's just come to sit by me.**

[03:29] **Send help.**

[03:29] _Oh, are Lily/James confirmed?_

[03:29] **Well, no, but I'm a good people reader. Have faith, Moony dearest.**

[03:30] _How long do you have left of rehearsal?_

[03:31] **At least another two hours. Maybe more.**

[03:31] _You wanna know what I'm doing now?_

[03:32] **Not really.**

[03:32] _I've got my feet propped up in front of the TV. Marlene and I are binge watching Agatha Christie shows._

[03:33] **I hate you.**

[03:34] **OK, Prongs keeps fucking up, we could be here for a while.**

[03:34] **You know what we should play?**

[03:34] _Probably not._

[03:34] **Twenty questions.**

[03:35] _Oh dear God._

[03:35] **Wait my name's just been called gotta go I'll talk to you in a bit.**

[03:35] _Break a leg._

[04:53] **Well that's quite rude. I'm fond of my leg.**

[04:53] _Funny. Are we playing this game or what?_

[04:54] **Someone seems to be suddenly eager.**

[04:54] **Does that count as one of your questions?**

[04:55] _Does that count as one of yours?_

[04:56] **OK so I've just googled 20 questions**

[04:56] _Oh my God._

[04:56] **First question:**

[04:57] **What makes you smile?**

[04:57] _Ummmm_

[04:57] _I don't know._

[04:57] _My friends?_

[04:58] **Well that's a boring answer.**

[04:58] _Fine, what makes YOU smile?_

"Remus? Are you texting that James' fit friend again?"

[04:59] **Seeing Prongs in pain is a pretty sure fire way to get me to smile.**

"Hm? Sorry, what did you say, Marls?"

[04:59] _I'll make a note of it._

[05:00] **OK, next question:**

"Are you guys playing twenty questions?"

"What? Leave me alone, Marlene."

[05:00] **What do you like to do with your free time?**

"Ask him about his sexuality!"

"No!"

[05:02] _I guess watching reruns of old TV shows is pretty fun._

"Fine, then _I'll_ ask him about it."

"Marlene!"

[05:03] _Do you like boys, girls, both, or neither?_

"Wow, nice one. Thanks. How am I going to get myself out of that?"

"Tell him it was me, if you're really that upset."

"No, because then he'll want to know why you want to know."

[05:05] **Er, I guess girls? I've never really thought about it.**

[05:05] **Why?**

"Fuck you, Marlene. How do I reply to this?"

[05:06] _It came up as a suggested question on google._

"There, now I've got your scrawny arse out of this mess."

"Out of it?! You're the one who put me in it in the first place!"

[05:07] **OK, do you like anyone?**

"What does he mean by that? Does he like you? This is getting intense."

"Shut up. He can't like me, he just said he's straight."

"No, he didn't. He said he'd never really thought about it."

[05:09] _Well, yes. I suppose you could put it like that._

"Why the hell would you say that?"

"Well, it's true, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but now he'll think you don't have a crush on him."

"I don't want him to think I have a crush on him!"

"Well then, why the hell would you say that?"

[05:12] **It's your turn to ask a question, by the way. And you only have 18 left, so use them wisely.**

"Right, I'm steering this back into safer ground."

[05:13] _OK, what's your favourite genre of movie?_

[05:15] **Not musicals, that's for sure.**

"You know what that question was like?"

"What?"

"It was like a thirteen-year-old trying to work out which movie he should ask the girl he fancies out to."

"Literally, fuck off, Marlene."

"No wonder he's being evasive."

"I hate you."

[05:17] **Rehearsal just ended. I've gotta go.**

[05:18] _OK, bye._

"Fuck."

MONDAY AFTERNOON

[03:22] **LAST FULL REHEARSAL BEFORE THE PERFORMANCE WOW LET'S GO**

[03:22] _Someone's excited._

[03:24] **Prongs is definitely gonna fuck up. I can feel it.**

[03:24] **For some reason, telling him that doesn't help his nerves much.**

[03:25] _Weird, that is._

[03:25] _Is he nervous?_

[03:26] **If the smell in the bathroom's got anything to do with it.**

[03:27] _Gross._

[03:29] **Not all of us get the luxury of our own room. Some of us have to share with sweaty teenage boys.**

[03:33] _Of course, when I said gross, what I really meant was to describe the scenario more._

[03:34] **Always happy to serve, you know me.**

[03:35] _Let me know how the rehearsal goes._

[03:35] **Will do.**

[03:56] **OK, I've done my bit, and everything's going as well as could be expected.**

[03:56] **A couple of extras forgot their lines, but we covered it up.**

[03:56] **James hasn't vomited yet.**

[04:03] _All good things, then._

[04:03] **Yeah.**

[04:31] **WAIT, ALERT ALERT**

[04:34] _What?_

[04:34] **The set just collapsed.**

[04:35] _Oh my God, again?_

[04:36] **Our drama teacher's actually crying. He's usually a scary bloke, too.**

[04:37] **Well this is going as well as could be expected.**

[04:38] **OK, it's all hands on deck. Our's making us hand our phones in. Wish me luck.**

[04:38] _Break a leg._

TUESDAY EVENING

[06:06] **An hour until the curtain goes up.**

[06:10] _Ah, you got your phone back._

[06:10] _Are you nervous?_

[06:12] **SIRIUS BLACK IS NEVER NERVOUS**

[06:13] _I'm glad to hear it._

[06:13] **Prongs, on the other hand…**

[06:14] _Poor Prongs._

[06:14] _Will it help to tell horror stories for my days on the stage?_

[06:15] **No.**

[06:16] _You remember Marlene getting in loads of trouble for dyeing her hair bright pink?_

[06:16] **Yeah.**

[06:17] _The only other time she got in so much trouble is when she got to the stage of our national music competition, where she was on Welsh TV._

[06:17] _Marlene's always had trouble with authority, and disagrees with the Eisteddfod on principle._

[06:18] _So when she got to the stage, all the cameras were trained on her, waiting for her to sing her little heart out._

[06:18] _So she sang Land of Hope and Glory._

[06:19] **... Is that a big deal?**

[06:19] _In Wales? Yes. People genuinely despise the English._

[06:19] **I feel so loved.**

[06:20] _Anyway, everyone was shocked into silence, myself included, since I didn't even think she knew the words._

[06:20] _She ended by yelling "GOD SAVE THE QUEEN" and ran off the stage._

[06:21] **Wow.**

[06:22] _Thing is, she hates English people as much as the next person. She just hates the Eisteddfod more._

[06:23] **This "hating the English thing"…**

[06:23] **Are people serious about it? Am I gonna get beaten up for my accent or something?**

[06:24] _Well, not many people are serious about it. It's mostly just a joke._

[06:25] **What happened next? Wasn't that all on TV?**

[06:25] _I mean, yeah. They tracked Marlene down half an hour later, eating candyfloss nonchalantly, where she got a huge bollocking from all the teachers._

[06:26] _Then on the news the next day, it was pretty much all they talked about._

[06:26] _But she didn't get expelled, and everyone forgot about it eventually. Pretty much._

[06:27] **I just relayed this story to James and he said, "Oh yeah, Marlene's crazy."**

[06:28] **Apparently he loves Marlene.**

[06:28] _Oh, definitely. I always avoid having them both round my house, because they wreak havoc._

[06:29] **If he wasn't so devoted to Lily, he'd probably be chasing Marlene. Honestly.**

[06:29] **Wait, I've gotta go. Half an hour until show time.**

[06:30] _Good luck._

[10:12] **That went surprisingly well!**

[10:13] _Yeah? No national humiliation?_

[10:13] **Not quite. Wormtail fucked up the lighting at one stage, but he salvaged it pretty well. No one will have noticed.**

[10:13] **Although he does keep apologising to everyone he sees.**

[10:15] _Give Wormtail my sympathy._

[10:15] **Will do.**

[10:15] **Oh, you know he's coming to stay with James for half term? He'll come up to the Eisteddfod and everything.**

[10:16] _Awesome._

[10:16] _God, it's less than half a week until half term._

[10:17] **I know. We're catching the train at lunchtime on Friday. We'll probably see you on Saturday.**

[10:18] _I'll look forward to it._

[10:21] **Well, I'm basically falling asleep where I stand, so I'm gonna head off to bed.**

[10:22] _OK. Goodnight, Padfoot._

[10:47] **Nos da.**

WEDNEDSAY EVENING

[10:02] **It's all over, Moony.**

[10:03] **Now it's time to party!**

[10:04] _Was it only two nights?_

[10:04] **And we did another performance this afternoon.**

[10:05] **I should probably be exhausted, but now I'm ready to dance until dawn.**

[10:05] **I'm also gonna live text you the whole thing.**

[10:06] _What a brilliant way to spend my evening._

[10:07] **Sarcasm isn't welcome.**

[10:07] **OK, Prongs has just emerged from the changing rooms. His hair still looks greasy from all the gel, but he's dressed like a normal person now.**

[10:08] _Is James ever really dressed like a normal person?_

[10:08] **Wormtail looks like he's going to dance, which means the party has really started.**

[10:09] _I've been meaning to ask, how did you guys get your nicknames?_

[10:11] **That's a brilliant story.**

[10:11] **Prongs and I found loads of Cosmo magazines in Wormtail's trunk.**

[10:12] _Why were you going through Wormtail's suitcase?_

[10:13] **We were thirteen, and we thought he was stashing pornos in there.**

[10:14] **Anyway, it turns out they were trashy magazines, so Prongs and I ridiculed him mercilessly for a bit, then we read them.**

[10:15] **There were loads and loads of quizzes, and we ended up taking them quite seriously, including one about which is your spirit animal, which is how we got our nicknames.**

[10:15] **Wormtail is a rat, Prongs is a stag, and I'm a dog.**

[10:16] _I'm not much of a dog person, to be honest._

[10:16] **I'm mortally wounded.**

[10:17] **Just for that, I'm going to dance. You can enjoy the party by yourself.**

[10:17] _Take care of Wormtail for me._

[10:45] **Update:**

[10:45] **Hagrid's still crying because he's going to miss working with us.**

[10:46] _Wait, Hagrid's the drama teacher?_

[10:46] **Yep.**

[10:47] **Wormtail's drunk and I've just left him dancing to Jessie J.**

[10:47] **Prongs is having a civil conversation with Lily, which is weird.**

[10:47] **Dorcas is getting off with the guy she fancies in the year above.**

[10:48] **And I'm talking to you.**

[10:51] _I'm honoured._

[10:52] **You should be.**

[10:52] **There are loads of girls trying to get my attention.**

[10:53] _Always so modest._

[11:04] **OK, I've escaped the party.**

[11:07] _Where are you?_

[11:08] **The only place where I'm safe.**

[11:08] **The windowsill outside the dormitory.**

[11:09] _That sounds decidedly unsafe._

[11:10] **Whatever, I'll be fine.**

[11:10] **You know, we never finished playing twenty questions.**

[11:11] _Do you want to play it now?_

[11:11] _When one of us is drunk and the other is exhausted?_

[11:13] **I'm not that drunk.**

CALLING MOONY

" **See? I managed to call you without much trouble?"**

" _Congratulations, Padfoot. Please don't fall off the roof. That could be traumatic."_

" **OK, I'm going first. Who would you save if both Prongs and I were falling off a cliff?"**

" _Neither. You both deserve an eternity in Hell."_

" **Rude."**

" _How many continents have you visited?"_

" **Four, I think."**

" _Really?"_

" **Yeah. When Reg and I were kids, our parents used to take us on their business trips."**

" _That sounds… Fun."_

" **It really wasn't. OK, have you ever been kissed?"**

" _Er… Well, no, not exactly. How drunk are you?"_

" **I'm practically sober. And that counts as a question, by the way. What about girlfriends?"**

" _What?"_

" **Have you ever had a girlfriend?"**

" _No. OK, what is your biggest goal in life?"_

" **I've never thought of that. To be happy, I suppose, or something equally as cheesy. What's your biggest fear?"**

" _You falling off that roof. Right, um… Where would you live if you could live anywhere?"_

" **I inherited a flat in London from my uncle, and that's really nice, so there, I suppose. Oh shit! Prongs, what are you-"**

" _What?"_

" **Fuck, Moony, I gotta go."**

" _Bye-"_

[11:35] **Prongs came into the dormitory to continue making out with Lily!**

[11:36] _Give him my best wishes, but I'm really tired now. Goodnight._

[11:40] **Night, Moony.**

A/N: Hey, because I love you guys, I'm updating yet again. I'm in the middle of chapter 10, but I also have a load of other projects (that I don't want to do) to get started on, so it might be a bit longer before I can post the next chapter. Sorry about that.


	10. Chapter 10

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

[12:46] **About to leave school.**

[12:46] **An eight hour journey with Prongs and Wormtail.**

[12:47] **What could possibly go wrong?**

Sirius groaned loudly and knocked his head against his seat. It had been three hours since the Marauders had boarded the train to Edinburgh (where they would change to London, where they would change to Cardiff, where they would change to Llanfairpwll) and already he was bored out of his mind. Mr and Mrs Potter had decided to give the boys an opportunity to test their independence by allowing them to travel down on the train by themselves. In theory, freedom from both parents and teachers sounded like fun, and James had agreed eagerly on behalf of his friends. In practice, it was sitting in a moving building for eight hours with very little to entertain them.

Usually, when his friends failed to amuse him, Sirius had taken to talking to Remus instead. It bothered him more than it should have that Remus hadn't replied, although he reasoned that Remus was probably still in school. Or had lost his phone in a terrible accident. Or was hanging out with Marlene.

Sirius tapped his fingers impatiently on the table and directed his glare to the countryside outside, willing it to move faster.

"You alright, mate?" Peter asked, looking at Sirius inquisitively. "You look a bit constipated."

"Yeah, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" Sirius snapped in reply. Peter, used to Sirius' sharp jeers, didn't look at all hurt, although James poked his friend in the side.

"Yeah, what's got into you, Padfoot?" he asked with an expression identical to Peter's.

"Nothing," Sirius insisted. He unlocked his phone again and checked his texts.

James exchanged a look with Peter. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the text you sent Moony when we left, would it?"

"No! How do you even know about that?"

"Who else would you be texting?" Peter asked. "Me and Prongs were with you at the time."

"I have loads of friends," Sirius protested, elbowing James as he scoffed at the notion.

"Yeah, right. Anyway, is that why you keep checking your phone?"

"No," Sirius mumbled after a beat of silence. Peter cackled. "Oh yeah, Prongs, that reminds me," he continued, ignoring Peter's guffaws. "Is there something going on between him and Marlene?"

James smirked. "I don't think she's really his type, if I'm honest."

"No?"

James shook his head, although a smirk was still plastered on his face. "Almost certainly not."

"You're like a jealous girlfriend, mate!" Peter told Sirius gleefully. Sirius kicked him under the table.

"Fuck off," he grumbled, although he wondered if there was some truth in Peter's words. He certainly enjoyed talking to Remus a lot, although he'd managed to brush that off as friendship, even if he'd never really texted people before. The occasional clench of jealousy he felt when Remus spoke of Marlene he had also banished to the corners of his mind. But it was difficult to ignore the daydreams about Remus, even if he managed to repress the thoughts before he leaned in to kiss him. Or at least before the kiss was too heated. Or at least before any clothes were removed. Sometimes.

Sirius groaned

"Oi! Shitface!"

Sirius was awoken by a heavy pillow to the head. The three of them hadn't arrived in Llanfairpwll until at least midnight the night before, and Sirius was still recovering from the late night and the long few weeks spent in school. "Fuck off, Wormtail," he grunted, only to be met by another pillow.

"Remus is here. I've been sent up to get you."

Sirius twisted around to look at Peter. "What time is it?"

"Like, 11 o'clock. Get up, get dressed, and pay attention to your hair."

Before Peter could finish his sentence Sirius had rolled out of bed and was stretching. "Get out, Pete, I'm about to strip."

"Jesus Christ, I'm leaving, I'm leaving." Peter waved his hands in front of his eyes as Sirius pulled off his T-Shirt and left the room.

Ten minutes later Sirius emerged, his hair self consciously swept over one shoulder. He found James and Peter sitting at opposite Remus and a bespectacled girl, the tips of her afro a hot pink. She was the first to see Sirius and her face lit up.

"Hi," she grinned.

"Hey," Sirius replied, doing his best to look cool as he ran his fingers through the end of his hair. "You must be Marlene."

"The very same."

Sirius noticed how at ease Remus seemed beside her, his arm resting casually on the back of her chair. _They go well together_ , he thought bitterly.

"We were just hearing about what an inspiration Marly's hair had been to your prank," Remus grinned, pulling Sirius out of his thoughts. Sirius returned his smile, even if it was a little forced, and sat at the head of the table.

"It was legendary," he declared.

"A bit juvenile, don't you think?" Remus countered.

"Adding pink hair dye to the Slytherins' shampoo was our best prank to date," James argued, slamming his fist onto the table for emphasis.

"And I still think bribing the kitchen staff to serve candyfloss and raspberry lemonade was a stroke of genius," Peter added and he grinned reminiscently as the other four laughed uproariously.

"Anyway," Remus said, clearing his throat as the noise died down. Sirius didn't miss the nudge Marlene sent his way. "I suppose there's something I should probably tell you guys. I mean, not a lot of people know, but-"

James settled back into his chair with a smug smile, folding his arms expectantly. "Come on then, out with it, Moony, old pal." Sirius tried to send him an inquisitive glance but he was ignored in favour of Remus.

"Well – here's the thing," he began, twisting his hands together nervously. "I may not – ah – be entirely straight."

Sirius blinked in surprise. James clapped his hands together triumphantly. "Way ahead of you there, mate," he told him smugly.

It was Remus' turn to look surprised. "How did you know?"

"You're nearly not as good at keeping secrets as you think you are."

"That's true," Marlene chipped in. "I knew before you told me, too."

"You were the first person I told. I had hour long conversations with you about it before I was even sure."

"Well, _I_ didn't know," Sirius interrupted, pouting slightly. He felt hurt that Remus hadn't told him before. Why wait so long to come out?

"I hadn't really told a lot of people," Remus explained, looking at Sirius as though he'd said something very odd. Sirius scoffed and rolled his eyes disparagingly. "But I thought you should…" He shot an uncertain glance at Marlene, who shrugged discreetly.

"Anyway," James said, also looking at Sirius dubiously. "Now we know Remus is a rampant homosexual, we can move on to the important stuff. What's this music festival like?"

Marlene looked relieved that James was taking the initiative as Sirius continued to glower at Remus.

"Well, the music festival's a pile of bullshit. A couple of crappy rides, some Welsh nationalists, and some 11-year-olds singing the national anthem." Her eyes slid towards Remus, who was biting his lip and staring at the table top. She wondered if she should get him out of there before the situation escalated.

"Sounds like a barrel of laughs. Why are we going to this again?" Peter asked.

"To support the Welsh culture, Pete. We all know it's dying out," James told his friend, rolling his eyes at Marlene.

"Quite right. Although I would keep quiet tomorrow – they don't exactly appreciate the English," she grinned.

Marlene had slipped her hand under the table to hold Remus', well aware that sometimes her friend needed some physical contact to help him feel grounded. Sirius' jaw tightened. "Remus, blod, wyt ti angen gadael?" she asked very quietly. Peter and James had the good grace to look as though they hadn't heard.

"What did you just say?" Sirius asked quickly, but not before Marlene could catch Remus nodding subtly. Marlene scowled.

"I don't remember it being any of your business, cariad."

"Marlene," Remus hissed. "Come on, let's go before you hit someone."

Peter looked bewildered as James glared furiously at Sirius and Marlene and Remus got up to go, giving their thanks to Mrs Potter and promising to find James in the Eisteddfod.

"What a prick," Marlene declared as soon as they were halfway down the street. When Remus didn't reply, instead kicking a rock across the road, she tried a different tack. "Are you feeling OK?"

After a pause, Remus groaned. "What did I do wrong, Marlene?"

"Nothing!" she insisted. "You've done nothing wrong. He just appears to be a wanker of the highest order. You need a better crush."

"I think I'm in too deep for that, Marl."

"Nonsense. You'll be fine!"

"Sirius, what the fuck was that?"

Sirius' arms were still crossed and he stared sullenly at the table, not acknowledging James' question.

"Yeah, Sirius, that was really weird. What's wrong with you?" Peter chimed in.

"Nothing," Sirius snapped. "Nothing's wrong with me. I'm fine."

"Thing is, I'm not worried about whether you're fine. I'm worried about poor Moony. Do you know how difficult it is to come out to people? How do you think he's feeling right now?"

Sirius flinched. "Fuck you, James."

"Don't be a homophobic dick. It's like the number one rule in life."

The chair scraped as Sirius stood up suddenly. He walked out without another word, leaving a fuming James and concerned Peter in his wake.

[12:53] **Hey Moony**

[12:53] **I'm sorry if I was weird earlier**

[01:12] _Don't do that to me again. What the hell is wrong with you?_

[01:16] **I don't know.**

[01:16] **I am OK with you being gay. I don't mind.**

[01:17] **And I'm sorry.**

[01:18] _Good._

A/N: Oops. Dick!Sirius has reared his ugly head. Sorry about that, guys.


	11. Chapter 11

SATURDAY MORNING

[06:31] **This is far too early for anyone to be awake.**

"Shit," Remus murmured under his breath after his phone lit up. Then – "Marlene, look at this."

Both were sitting on the school bus, trundling through the barren mountains to find the Eisteddfod. As far as Remus was concerned, getting up at ungodly hours to sit in freezing tents while listening to eleven-year-olds belt out Bread of Heaven was all part of the experience, and never seemed to mind. Marlene was not quite as enthusiastic as she dozed off on Remus' shoulder.

"Marlene," Remus repeated, shaking her awake.

"Hm?" she asks, rubbing her eyes and stretching. "What?"

"Sirius just texted me."

Marlene studied her friend with one bleary eye for a moment. "So?"

"Well, didn't we fight yesterday?"

"Yeah, but you forgave him."

"Did I?"

"I dunno, did you?"

Remus groaned. "I really don't remember my life being this complicated before he came into it."

"Well, it's quite simple," Marlene told him. "Do you want to talk to him or not? The power is in your hands, love."

"But I don't want power! I want everyone to tell me what to do."

Marlene thumped him on the back, perhaps harder than was necessary. "You're just gonna have to toughen up a bit, my lad."

Remus sighed and wished his friend didn't use quite such patronising terms of endearment as she drifted back into sleep on his shoulder. Reading the text once more, he bit his lip and started to type.

[06:37] _Ah, it's all part of the experience._

[06:38] **I'm not sure I like being Welsh anymore.**

[06:39] _But you haven't sat through hours of eleven-year-olds singing the same song over and over again yet!_

[07:01] **Wow, you've won me over.**

[07:01] **I think Peter's gonna cry.**

[07:04] _Why?_

"Sirius? Who're you texting?"

[07:05] **Prongs keeps waking him up by waving pepper under his nose until he sneezes.**

[07:06] _Why does Prongs have pepper?_

"You aren't talking to Moony, are you? Come on, mate, it's not fair. Leave him alone."

[07:07] **He never goes anywhere without a little bit of pepper! Says you never know when it can come in handy.**

[07:09] _But of course. How sensible. Silly me._

"Sirius-"

Shoving his phone into his pocket with an exasperated sigh, Sirius said, "Look, James, leave me alone. I know what I'm doing."

James mirrored his sigh and looked concerned, his brow furrowed. "I don't want you to make him uncomfortable."

"He doesn't have to talk to me, does he? We're talking over the phone, for Christ's sake."

"Well-" James broke off and shoved his glasses up the bridge of his nose agitatedly. "Fine. But don't come crying to me when you fuck everything up."

"James!" his mother cried from the driver's seat, where she had been pretending not to hear the angry conversation. "Language!"

Sirius slumped down in his seat and scowled at the passing countryside, tapping his foot on the floor of the car impatiently.

The Potters and their friends arrived at the Eisteddfod's campsite nearly an hour later, after Mrs Potter got lost somewhere between Caerphilly and Swansea. They had decided to camp once they had discovered that it was the Done Thing, despite living no more than an two hours away (an hour if one didn't take into account Mrs Potter's dreadful sense of direction). The five of them – Mr and Mrs Potter, James, Sirius and Peter – stood in the middle of a godforsaken field, clutching bags filled with tent materials, and looking around themselves in bewilderment as people chattered loudly in a language they couldn't begin to recognise.

"I suppose," Mr Potter began at length. "We should just set up our tent?"

"I suppose," his wife agreed heavily, dropping her bag to the ground with a thump.

Sirius tried to help for a while – he really did – but he found that the combination of refusing to talk to James and never having been camping in his life made him more of a hindrance than a help. He flounced away under the excuse of finding the toilets after no more than ten minutes of pretending to help by passing James the wrong poles rather more forcefully than was necessary.

He groaned and ran a hand over his face as he stomped through the mood. He knew he had been a dick. He just didn't know why he had behaved in such a way. A dozen thoughts flitted through his mind, but he wanted to deal with none of them.

His phone buzzed insistently against his leg, pulling Sirius out of his thoughts. _Moony_ was the caller ID.

"Remus?"

"Hi, Sirius. Where are you guys?"

"Er…"Sirius remained flustered for a moment. After his conversation with James, he had remained convinced that Remus hated him. Was this not true?

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

"Yes, right, sorry. Yeah, we're in the campsite now."

"Oh, right, cool. I'll tell Mam and Dad to go and look for you. Give us a call when you come into the actual site, won't you?"

"Will do."

"Right. See you later, Pads."

"Goodbye." As the line went dead, Sirius heaved a huge sigh and pushed a hand through his hair again. It was going to be a long day.

After setting up the tent, with much shouting, swearing, and awkward giggling on the part of Peter, the small Potter family and friends made their way to the site of the Eisteddfod. As they trudged through the mud and made their way towards yet another collection of tents, although rather more posh this time, Sirius decided that the Eisteddfod was two things; muddy and Welsh. It seemed they were the only non-Welsh speakers for miles. What Sirius wouldn't have given to hear a comforting BBC-standard accent rather than the harshness of the local language.

Having struggled through the entrance – it took people a few moments to gather that there were some _English_ in the _Eisteddfod_ – Sirius found himself in the centre of the site.. It was just as grey and tent filled as the other side, the only difference being a familiar looking pair waiting for them.

"Guys!" Remus cried his face lighting up as he hurried towards them. Marlene followed him, giving Sirius a look that made him feel quite uncomfortable.

"Hey, Remus," Peter smiled as James joked, "Long time no see."

There a pause of silence before Sirius said, "Hi, Moony."

Remus seemed so happy that even Marlene couldn't help but drop the scowl and smile with her friend. "Well, you missed out on the heats, but we might get through to the stages on some of them, so you can watch us then."

"You'll definitely get through with the piano, love," Marlene told him, looking proud. Remus bit his lip and grinned some more.

"Do you have any more heats?" James asked.

"Nah. We can just chill for a bit now," Marlene replied.

"What is there to do?"

It was Sirius who had spoken and everyone turned to him in surprise. He supposed he was meant to still be in disgrace and had the decency to look a little bit embarrassed.

"Well, it looks like rain. We could hide in the food tent and then go around the tents? That should probably kill enough time before we'll have to go on stage," Remus said, still grinning. Met by nods and shrugs, Remus and Marlene led the way to the food tent.

The food tent was a huge pavilion that could seat at least a few hundred people, complete with plastic camping tables, benches, and a canteen. It was drafty in the room, being as the walls were made of canvas and it had been raining all morning, and there were various choirs dotted in the corners of the rooms practicing their competition songs. It was at this that Sirius cried, "Hey, you guys are in your school uniforms!"

Remus and Marlene looked around in surprise. "Yeah," Marlene replied as Remus said, "Really, Sirius, would you mind speaking a little more quietly? I really don't want anyone to realise I've brought some English to the Eisteddfod."

Smiling at Remus in appreciation of his light-hearted joke, Sirius said, "But all you're wearing is black trousers and a hoodie with a badge on it!"

"Oh my God, I don't even want to know what school uniform you guys wear," Marlene snorted. "But I'm supposing it involves ties and crisp white shirts and perhaps a hat on cricket days?"

"And a blazer," Peter agreed, nodding sagely.

"I feel second-hand embarrassment for you, cariad." She looked as though she was going to continue, but something behind Sirius caught her attention. He spun around in his seat to see what she was looking at as she murmured to Remus, "Don't look now, but look who it is."

The attraction in question was a rather short boy with blonde hair, speaking animatedly to an interviewer who was filming him.

"Who's that?" Peter asked, although the others shushed him hurriedly.

"We don't want him to hear, now, do we?" Marlene hissed.

"Sorry. I mean, who's that?" he said in an exaggerated whisper.

"I'll tell you now in a minute," she promised.

The five sat in absolute silence, exchanging confused glances as the blonde boy finished speaking to the camera and moved on. When they started to talk, it was like a deep exhalation of breath.

"That was Harri Tomos, Remus' arch enemy." The three boys looked at Remus interestedly, but he rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"No, Marlene, really, he's not-"

"For the past four years, he's been taking the piano competition away from Remus."

"Yeah, because he's better than I am-"

"So we despise him on principle."

"We really don't-"

"I mean, did you see his smarmy face?"

Remus gave up on convincing Marlene that he really didn't hate this kid and sighed heavily as Sirius agreed enthusiastically that Harri Tomos really was a very unpleasant sort of person. He was extremely grateful when his phone started buzzing with texts from his mother.

"Look," he said to Marlene, reading off his phone. "We got through in the cyflwyniad dramatig, cor merched, you're in with both singing competitions, and I got through with the piano."

"Sorry, I only caught about half of that," Peter said.

"The cyflwyniad dramatig is like a ten minute play, and the cor merched is the girls' choir," Remus explained good-naturedly.

"So when are you going to go on stage?" James asked.

"Erm…" Remus checked his phone again. "We should probably start heading in that direction in about half an hour."

"In that case," Marlene said, pushing herself up from the table. "I'm going to get some food. Can't sing on an empty stomach, you know."

She left the four boys together. Sirius looked uncertain, feeling the pressure to be entertain now that Marlene (who was lively enough for ten people) was gone, but Remus' face broke into a grin. "So, James," he said, looking mischievous. "Tell me about your new girlfriend, won't you?"

James mirrored Remus' smile as Sirius and Peter groaned heavily. "Ah, Lily Evans," he sighed dreamily. "The light of my life. The key to my locked heart. The flower-"

"Yeah, yeah, alright," Peter interrupted. "We get it. You like Lily. Can we talk about something else please?"

James slapped Peter lightly on the wrist. "Blasphemy! How dare you even suggest that you don't want to hear about Lily Evans – the light of my life, the key to my-"

"OK, but what's she like? How did you guys get together?" Remus asked with interest.

"I thought Sirius told you."

"Not the gory details!"

"Alright, alright. Well, as we were both working on the play, we were spending more time together, and she decided maybe she didn't hate me so much after all."

"Then Prongs got off with Dorcas, and she thought maybe she liked him quite a lot more than originally thought," Sirius added. James smirked.

"What can I say? I'm irresistible. Anyway, then the two of us started getting together to do homework and the like, so we were with each other all the time-"

"Then at the party when everyone was off their face, James started snogging her for everyone to see," Peter finished for him. James placed a hand over his heart, looking as though he was going to faint.

"Peter," he breathed dramatically. " _She_ jumped _me._ That part is crucial. How dare you forget it."

"Right, sure, Prongs," Peter smiled, sharing a knowing look with Remus. Just as James opened his mouth to continue arguing his point, Marlene reappeared.

"Remus, come on. I just saw Mrs Jones, and the boys' choir got through to the main stage. Come _on,_ hurry up, she wants to rehearse before we go on."

A/N: Argh, sorry, it's been such a long time since I updated. I hope this chapter is worth it! Leave a review if you have the time.


	12. Chapter 12

Sirius dutifully filed in to the hot pink pavilion, the main stage in the Eisteddfod, behind James and Peter. It was a huge tent; only a quarter of it was taken up by a stage bigger than his school's. Cameras and lights filled the pavilion along with seats rising to the back, although no more than a third of them were filled. It smelled strongly of mud and rain, and Peter sniffed loudly before pulling a face.

Remus and Marlene had left them at the entrance and scurried to another door, which would take them backstage. They would not emerge for hours, since they were going to be on stage for two of Marlene's solos, one of the choirs and Remus' piano solo. Since so much of their morning would be spent behind closed doors, Remus and Marlene had promised to show the boys around the Eisteddfod later on.

The seat was chilly and hard, and Sirius knew his arse would ache later on. He stored this information away for future jokes as they were shushed by the attendants. A girl walked onto the stage, opened her mouth and began to sing animatedly. Sirius sighed and leaned back in his chair. It was going to be a long day.

Eventually, the three boys realised that they could go on their phones without anyone much caring, and for the following hour and a half, they played solitaire and doodle jump, only looking up for Marlene's solos. Marlene made a nice change from the other performers - Her skirt was purposefully hitched up too high and her hair was still noticeably pinker than everyone else's. James also muttered something about how he thought _every_ contestant was going to be white, and thanked the good Lord for Marlene.

Sirius couldn't figure out if he liked Marlene. She seemed to be similar to James in her fierce protectiveness and endless energy, so he supposed on paper they were meant to get on like a house on fire. It was a shame her natural instinct to take care of Remus would mean that she would hate him, especially after his earlier behaviour. Maybe if he stopped being a dick she'd warm up to him. Sirius still hadn't quite forgiven himself for behaving in such a way. He had managed to rationalize it – he was upset because Remus hadn't told him, not because he was homophobic. In some odd way, he felt betrayed. He had told Remus so much about his life. How much did Sirius know about his?

Sirius was pulled from his thoughts when Remus walked onto the stage, looking as calm and composed as he could manage in his scruffy school uniform. Sirius leaned forward in his chair to study him as he seated himself at the piano and flexed his fingers. He seemed to flinch as he sat down, and again just before he started playing. When he flinched for a third time, Sirius turned to James.

"Is he twitching?"

James nodded grimly. "He does it when he gets stressed," he explained in a low voice, still keeping an eye on the stage. "But he hates it. Don't bring it up."

His brow furrowed in concern and he tried to concentrate on Remus' performance, as his fingers darted up and down the piano, creating fast paced and exciting music.

"You OK, mate?" James whispered. Sirius replied with a despondent nod. "What's wrong?" James asked. Peter leaned forward in his seat to join the hushed conversation from James' other side, which gave Sirius a huge rush of relief. He was reminded that no matter how he sometimes behaved, no matter how many mistakes he might make, his best mates would probably forgive him.

Armed with this newfound comfort, Sirius said, in a low voice, "I just feel like I don't really know Remus? Even though he knows me so well?"

He found himself enveloped in a one armed hug from James, who was still focusing on the performance. "I think," James began in his ear. "That Remus is not a naturally open person. I know you two are close, but you haven't known him for the years Marlene and I have. Give him time. He doesn't deliberately keep things from you."

Sirius nodded against James' shoulder as Remus finished and Peter applauded enthusiastically.

"You were amazing," James reassured Remus, who was still twitching nervously. Marlene was explaining to Peter that the results wouldn't be announced until later in the day.

The five of them had congregated in the food tent, where they were supposedly meeting James' parents, although they were nowhere to be seen. The weather was nicer, and since it was past lunchtime, they had decided to visit the fair and find some better food stalls, as soon as James had begged for money from his parents.

Mr and Mrs Potter bustled towards the group, looking as cheerful as ever. "James!" his mother cried as his father clasped his face between both hands and kissed both cheeks enthusiastically. "We've been having such a wonderful time!" James wiped his cheeks in disgust and scowled at his parents.

"Really?" Marlene asked in pleasant surprise, but Mrs Potter seemed not to hear her.

"Everyone has been so nice! We have seen all the stalls and watched Remus play – it was very good, dear – and now, after we've had some tea, we've decided to go and look at the stalls again!"

"That's great, Mum," James said as Sirius and Peter snickered behind their hands at James' obvious discomfort. "I'm really hungry. Can I have some money?"

"Yes, of course!" She fished around in her handbag and pressed three twenty pound notes into her son's hand. "That should be enough for all of you, shouldn't it?"

James grinned. "Food's on me."

After finding a burger stall, James bought them all food, despite Remus and Marlene's protests. "My mum literally gave me sixty quid for food in what is essentially a shitty camping site," James said, brushing away their complaints. "Don't be ridiculous." Sirius remembered James buying him a new phone and clothes and felt a sudden surge of fondness for his friend.

The weather had brightened up as they sat down on plastic benches. They were sat in front of an empty, open-air stage, since there would be some half decent performances there later on, according to Marlene. Sirius realised with a start that Remus had slid onto the bench next to him, and in the silence, was still twitching. He also realised that Marlene was chewing her lip and watching Remus discretely– probably wondering how best to distract her friend, Sirius theorised.

"The weather seems to have cleared up," Peter said through a mouthful of burger. James agreed.

"Unusually nice for May."

Sirius rolled his eyes at how quintessentially British his friends sounded, but Marlene beat him to the snarky remark. "I didn't realise when we brought a couple of English lads to the 'steddfod, they'd bring their boring conversation."

"Well, what do Welsh people usually talk about?" Peter countered in an offhand manner as he polished off his burger.

"Oh, you know…" Marlene trailed off, scrunching up her nose as she tried to think of an answer.

"The decline of the Welsh language, the rugby, and slagging off the English," Remus answered for her. Sirius scoffed.

"You give us poor English such a hard time," he complained.

"Erm, excuse me, but I think 700 hundred years of oppression is almost the definition of a 'hard time'!" Marlene cried indignantly, although she laughed as she did.

"You wouldn't believe that she's our Welsh department's most hated student, would you?" Remus asked, supposedly under his breath although he knew Marlene could hear him.

"Rude," she said, smacking his forearm lightly. Sirius noticed that Remus was no longer twitching.

"Why does the Welsh department hate you?" Peter asked.

"I don't believe that they should brainwash the minds of innocent children into thinking that Wales is the most important country in the world," Marlene explained haughtily, which had James doubling over with laughter.

"You've been doing nothing except talk about Wales the whole day!" he gasped between laughs.

"For comedic effect, my dear lad, keep up!"

"Oh," James nodded, sitting up in an attempt to keep a straight face. "Of course. How silly of me."

"Can we go to the fair?" Peter asked as Sirius examined his fingers for any traces left of the burgers. Sirius perked up immediately at the idea.

"Yeah! Let's go to the fair."

"Well, Remus and I don't have to be back at the pavilion yet, so I suppose…" Marlene said, at which point both Peter and Sirius jumped up and said simultaneously, "Roller coaster."

They both started hurriedly to look for the alleged fair, Remus, Marlene and James trailing behind them. "The two of them have always had a thing for fairs and bumper cars," James explained wearily. "An important part of their friendship."

"I would have thought you'd be with them," Marlene said, looking curious.

"Ah – yes, well, fairs aren't really my _thing,"_ he replied emphatically.

"What he means is," Remus told Marlene in a conspiratorial voice. "That when we were twelve we went to Oakwood, and he threw up on three separate rides, and he now refuses to even think about roller coasters."

"They're the work of the devil!" James said defensively as Marlene cackled at his misfortune.

When they arrived at the fair – small and grotty, with no more than four rides and a sweet stall – Peter and Sirius were already seated on the biggest one, bouncing giddily as they waited for it to begin.

"You're both going to die!" James yelled at them, much to the displeasure of a mother trying to comfort her crying son, who was sitting a few seats behind Sirius and Peter. It appeared she had already paid for the ride and was unwilling to waste all that money.

James covered his eyes as the ride started and Marlene continued to laugh at him. Remus watched as Sirius' face lit up and he began to scream – rather unnecessarily, in Remus' opinion – as the ride swung them in erratic circles and the child started to scream in terror.

"Well, I'm off to buy candy floss," Marlene said as her interest in James waned.

"She developed a sudden interest in it after I pointed out the similarities between the sweet and her hair," Remus told James as she strolled away, toward the sweet stall. James studied him for a minute, and Remus' brow furrowed. "What?"

"You and Sirius will be OK, you know."

Remus pulled a face. "I know," he said, trying to sound convincing.

"Honestly. He's just confused right now. Provided you can put up with his idiocy, you guys will be fine."

"Confused about what?" Remus asked, but before James could answer, Peter and Sirius were cantering towards them.

"We're going on the bumper cars next!" Sirius told them excitedly. When met with two reluctant faces, he groaned and grabbed hold of James' hand. "Come _on,_ guys!"

But before Sirius could drag them anywhere, Marlene reappeared, candy floss in one hand and her phone in the other. Remus twitched.

"They're about to announce the winners for the piano," she told him excitedly. Remus paled visibly. "Come on! They need to announce my competitions, too."

Marlene scuttled away, James and Peter hot on her heel, but Remus lagged behind. Sirius fell into step with him.

"Nervous?" he asked, glancing up to see Remus twitch again, then lift his hand to rub his neck in frustration.

"Yeah," Remus replied with a shaky laugh. "But I don't know why. This has never been a big deal before."

Sirius hummed sympathetically, but couldn't think of any comforting words. However, he was determined not to let the conversation fall to pieces. "So, big plans for the rest of the half term?"

"Well, I'm actually going up to my grandparents tomorrow."

"Oh." Disappointment settled in Sirius' chest.

"So I guess I won't see you until the summer holidays."

"I'm going out to India with James for the whole summer, to visit some of his relatives."

"Oh." It was Remus' turn to feel sharply disappointed. Before Sirius could say anything else, Marlene was yelling at them to hurry the fuck up, she was going to her announcement, before disappearing. James and Peter walked to the main entrance, but Sirius walked Remus to the side entrance.

"Well, good luck, then-"

"Come back stage with me?" Remus asked, sounding as though it was a split second decision.

"Er-" Sirius glanced doubtfully over Remus' shoulder. "Am I allowed?"

"No one will notice. You probably won't get stabbed."

Sirius' face broke out into a grin. "Well, in that case…"

Backstage was pandemonium. There must have been dozens of schools, each one with a small allocated area, each one rehearsing their choirs or soloists. Remus weaved his way between the schools expertly, while Sirius did his best to keep up.

Remus stopped to talk to what Sirius assumed to be his teacher in fast paced Welsh. Before Sirius could catch his breath, Remus was coming back towards him. "What was that all about?" Sirius asked.

"Marlene had to run on stage to collect her award – second place – but I have about ten minutes before my competition is announced."

"OK," Sirius said. "I thought Marlene deserved first place."

Remus huffed a smile, although Sirius could tell by his tense body language that his friend was still obviously stressed. Sirius put his hand gently on his elbow.

"Let's find somewhere to sit down, yeah?"

The two of them found a space by a TV camera and reporter, who was asking some eleven year olds questions about the Eisteddfod. Neither said anything, both watching the hectic scene in front of them.

"I'll miss you over the next… Well, six months," Remus said, breaking the silence.

"Hey, Remus, I really am sorry for the way I behaved yesterday."

Remus turned his head to smile at him. "I know."

"We're OK?" Sirius knew he sounded desperate, but with Remus' gentle smile he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Yeah. We're OK."

Sirius nodded, perhaps too vigorously. "Cool. So, well, I mean, we can text each other over the next few months, right?"

"Of course. And you'll have a great time in India."

"And you'll have a great time… with… your family?"

Remus scoffed. "Not likely. But there are no exams when I come back, and I'll spend the summer hanging out with Marlene on the beach and making money in my parents' café, so it'll be OK."

Sirius grinned. Although it had been hardly a day since he and Remus had been on awkward terms, it felt like longer. He wondered vaguely if perhaps he had blown the whole thing out of proportion.

The pair of them lapsed into silence again, albeit much more comfortable silence. Remus wasn't twitching, but smiling softly to himself, just like Sirius.

The teacher Sirius recognised from earlier came hurrying over, grinning like a maniac. "Remus, Remus, ti 'di ennill!"

Remus jumped to his feet. "Fi 'di beth?"

"Ennill!"

"Wir i chi?"

"Cyflym, mae angen casglu'r medal."

Sirius also clambered to his feet. "What's going on?"

Remus turned to look at him in bewilderment. "I've won the piano competition."

Sirius flung himself at Remus without even thinking about it, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and squeezing him tightly. "Ah, well done, Remus!" It was like an instinct to Sirius – he, James and Peter were forever hugging each other after particularly intense football games. What Sirius didn't expect was for Remus to look even more bemused when he pulled away, before muttering, "Right," and hurrying towards the stage, leaving Sirius feeling confused and with an odd sensation that there was something he was missing.

Several hours later – after having celebrated Remus' victory in the campsite with a fire, hot chocolate, and scary stories – only Remus was left sitting in front of the dying fire, his face illuminated by the glowing embers. Sirius crept out of his tent, leaving James and Peter to get ready for bed and fight over whose tooth brush was whose – and sat in the chair beside Remus.

Remus tilted his head backwards to study the sky. "Alright?" he asked softly, although his attention focused on the stars winking at them from the sky. Sirius nodded, fully aware the Remus' attentions were not on him, telling himself it was because he was trying to preserve body heat. To his relief, Remus didn't pull away. If anything, he also moved closer, until Sirius' head was practically resting on his shoulder.

He glanced up at Remus and his breath almost caught in his throat. Even Sirius was

struggling to deny his growing intrigue with Remus, especially considering the past thirty six hours, but he couldn't recall a time they had been sitting in such close proximity. He could just make out a smattering of freckles sprinkling his nose and his soft, wispy hair framing his face.

"I like the night," Remus said, breaking Sirius' almost reverential silence. He turned his head to look at Sirius, and although a quip about the aptness of Moony liking the night was on the tip of Sirius' tongue, instead of making fun of Remus, he leaned in to press their lips together.

Sirius' history as far as kissing was concerned was limited, due to his age and his disgust for James' pining, but no awkward encounters with girls could compare to this. Remus' lips were chapped and dry and tasted like salt when Sirius tentatively ran his tongue along Remus' lower lip, as opposed to girls' kisses, which Sirius found were wet and tasted like strawberry lip gloss. Remus moaned softly and allowed Sirius to slip his tongue between his lips, which was what brought Sirius back to earth abruptly.

He pulled away from Remus and stared at him. Remus stared back, before a smile graced his features.

"Well, you could have just said some-"

"I'm not gay." Sirius didn't know what brought him to say it, but he rephrase his statement, even as Remus' face fell, then hardened.

"Goodnight, Sirius," he said, standing up and walking to his tent without glancing back. Sirius did nothing to stop him. He only wondered what the consequence of this would be.

A/N: Wow, Sirius is such a dick. By the way, it's my beta reader and bestie bro thosedarndursleys birthday, so there may be a mini chapter written especially for her, hopefully. Let me know what you guys think!


	13. Chapter 13

"I have decided to rescue you from heartbreak and misery."

Remus rolled around to look at Marlene, who was standing in the door of the living room. "I'm fine, Marlene."

After a week in North Wales, Remus had returned to Llanfairpwll. He had told Marlene what had happened with Sirius, and she had insisted on coming over as soon as Remus arrived.

Now she was standing in his doorway, holding several films and her High School Musical blanket.

"Pride and Prejudice or Bend it like Beckham?"

"You know," Remus began, reluctantly shifting up the sofa to make room for his friend. "I feel like I'm going to need to reassert my masculinity if we're going to watch these films with a blanket on our lap which has Zack Efron's face on it."

"Shut up," Marlene scoffed. "As if you have any sense of masculinity left."

She collapsed onto the sofa after turning the TV. The familiar opening credits of Pride and Prejudice flickered on, but Remus and Marlene had watched it so many times that they hardly had to pay attention.

"Are you OK?" Marlene asked softly. Remus kept his gaze directed at the TV.

"Marlene, I'm fine. Honestly. I don't need to talk about it."

"Remus, come off it, what Sirius did was really hurtful, and I know you really liked him. I also know you need to talk about it."

"It's just-" Remus broke off and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I'm just so confused. It's not fair, Marlene."

Remus sounded so tired and sad that Marlene pulled him by his arm in for a hug. With a start, as he pressed his face into her neck, Marlene realised that Remus was crying – an unusual occurrence for her calm, stoic friend. She pulled him in closer as his shoulders shook.

"I ordered pizza," she murmured into his hair. His laugh mingled oddly with his tears.

"Mam won't be pleased."

"She'll get over it."

Remus' sobs settled, but he didn't try and move from her arms. She supposed he was going to take every bit of comfort he could get. "Remus, cariad, has he tried talking to you?"

Marlene could feel Remus shake his head against her shoulder. "James sent me a text, but I ignored it."

"Do you want to talk to him?"

Remus' eyes filled with tears again and he pulled away, sniffing furiously and dragging his sleeve across his eyes. "I don't know," he muttered. "To be honest, Marl, I really don't want to talk about it. Can we just enjoy the film and the pizza?"

Marlene nodded. "Of course, blod."

A/N: It was pointed out to me in the comments on AO3 earlier that it's extremely insensitive of me to call Sirius and idiot, and I'd like to apologise. I was referring to the way he treats Remus, but the reason he's behaving in such a way is, of course, because he's confused about his identity, and it isn't his fault that he feels so confused and rubbish. I'm really sorry if I offended anyone.

On a more cheerful note, you all get an extra chapter because it was my beta's birthday yesterday! Happy birthday Nancy! Sorry I wrote you such a miserable chapter!


	14. Chapter 14

James studied his phone, furrowing his brow as he looked up to study Sirius, who sat opposite him on the train. Sirius had changed since they last travelled from school to Llanfairpwll. He's hair was longer now, falling in dark waves around his shoulders. He had taken to wearing nail varnish every colour of the rainbow and winged eye liner as he explored his sexuality – a chaos of queerness and makeup, as he'd described it. He also wore almost constantly a weathered leather jacket found in a rundown charity shop and as James looked at him, David Bowie could be heard leaking from his earphones.

James looked back down at his phone. On it read _Hey James, how're you getting on? –_ a text from Remus. As far as James was concerned, Remus and Sirius hadn't spoken since the Eisteddfod, over six months before. James hadn't broached the subject with Sirius yet, and he was contemplating it doing it as they sat there, bored out of their minds.

"Why do you keep staring at your phone?" Sirius asked, pulling out his earphones. "You haven't finally convinced Lily to send you nudes?"

James kicked Sirius under the table. "Shut up, Pads." He paused. "It's from Remus."

For a heart stopping moment, Sirius' face fell, almost crumpled, and James thought he was going to cry. But the moment ended, and Sirius' face was a mask of indifference once more. "Cool. How's he getting on?"

James shrugged. "I haven't spoken to him much. We never do during the term."

Sirius nodded. "Are you going to see him this half term?"

"Do you want to?" James asked, without missing a beat.

Sirius sighed and looked as though he was about to say more, before saying, in a nonchalant tone of voice, "Sure. Why not?"

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

[03:22] Yeah, I'm alright, thanks. Long time no speak. How are you?

[03:28] _Meh, same old. We should catch up this week._

[03:29] Sure. Are you working?

[03:30] _Yep_

[03:30] Maybe we'll drop by sometime then

James waited for Remus' reply, having purposely referred to both him and Sirius. He wanted to gauge Remus reaction.

[03:33] _Sounds good to me. I'll see you then._

James slid his phone into his pocket. He saw that Sirius was watching him from the corner of his eye, despite pretending to enjoy the view from the train window. "I was texting Remus," James told him.

Sirius pulled an ear phone out again and pretended to look surprised. "Oh?"

"He wants to catch up during the week."

Sirius nodded. "Oh."

"Are you guys OK now, because I'm really confused about where we all stand…"

"I don't really know. We haven't spoken since – er, well – the Eistedfod, I suppose."

"Really?" James raised his eyebrows. "No conversation at all?"

"None."

After Sirius and Remus had kissed, Sirius had crawled back into the tent with James and Peter, both of whom were still awake and waiting for him to return. James had exchanged a cautious look with Peter before asking what was going on, and Sirius had been reminded that really, tents were not soundproof at all.

As Sirius had prepared for bed, he told them what had happened. He had collapsed onto the ground and curled up in his sleeping bag, facing his friends and waiting for their reactions.

"Well – are you gay?" Peter could always be trusted to break an awkward silence.

"I-" Sirius had started, before pausing. Up until that moment, he hadn't fully appreciated the situation, but as he tried to explain his feelings to his friends, his eyes filled with tears and an overwhelming wave of nausea washed over him. "I don't know."

And suddenly Sirius had shifted to the corner of the tent and was crying softly, much to the bemusement of his friends. James had never considered such a thing. How could questioning your sexuality be such a big deal? After a brief sexual identity crisis the year before, when he had wondered if he maybe liked Sirius more than just as a friend, James had been secure in his sexuality. But he remembered no particular distress in the thoughts; only a vague sort of concern as to how he would cope if he did turn out to have a crush on Sirius. He certainly had no recollection of the panic that was so clear in Sirius' eyes as he wrapped his arms around his knees and gasped for air, on the verge of hyperventilating.

To everyone's surprise, it was Peter who had approached Sirius. He had shuffled towards his friend, still clad in his sleeping bag, and had placed a gentle hand on his arm, silently asking permission to hug Sirius. He was wrapping his arms around Sirius before James could blink, comforting him as Sirius had sobbed into his T-Shirt. James had joined them, one arm around each of their shoulders, pulling them in closer. That night, when they had eventually broken apart, all three of them had huddled together.

After that, Sirius and James never discussed the matter. Sirius seemed fine in the morning, despite the pointed avoidance of Remus and Marlene. Sirius had never come out as such to James and Peter, although it wasn't difficult for anyone to guess as Sirius had made more and more comments about boys in films and eventually went on a date with a boy in the year above them.

When they had gone back to school in September, James had asked Sirius on their annual let's-stay-up-all-night-talking-on-the-first-night-back what he now identified as. Sirius had shrugged and said, "Gay, I suppose." James had never been more pleased to find his friend so laid back, rather than the wreck he was all those nights ago.

"It's gonna be awkward when we see each other again," Sirius said with a hint of a nervous smile, pulling James out of his thoughts. After pausing for a moment to collect himself, James smiled.

"What will you say to him?"

Sirius shrugged. "Probably nothing. Isn't that what people do? Pretend awkwardly not to notice each other?"

"Is that what you're going to do for the next three years? Pretend he wasn't the reason you realised you were queer while he pretends he never had a crush on you?"

Sirius flushed and looked away.

"You should really try talking to him, Pads."

"And say what?" Sirius snapped. "Remember me, from six months ago? No? Well, anyway, I'm sorry I kissed you. I mean, it's not like I still want to kiss you-"

"You still fancy him?"

"Actually, I think what you'll find I said James was that I _don't_ –"

"Sirius, please."

Sirius looked as though he would make another sarcastic comment, but he deflated. "I don't know, James. I haven't seen him in ages. But I definitely fancied him then – I fancied him a lot. Does that kind of thing just go away?"

"I-" James wanted to reassure Sirius, but he wasn't sure how. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

Sirius snorted.

"Marlene, really, you don't have to be like some sort of bodyguard, for goodness' sake."

Marlene was sitting on the counter of the café, ignoring Remus as he tried to wipe it down.

"You said James was coming to see you, and I'll be fucked if I let you face him alone."

"Marlene, I really think you're more upset about this than I am. It was a long time ago."

"People don't hurt my friends and live to tell the tale."

"James probably won't even bring him, you're just wasting your time, honestly-"

Before Remus could finish his thought, the door of the café clattered as it was pushed open by a rather tall James. Behind him trailed a boy Remus hardly recognised. As his eyes drifted over Sirius' tattered band shirt and well-fitting leather jacket, then up to his eyes, framed by delicate eye liner and his face, framed by glossy hair, Remus sighed heavily and was suddenly very glad for Marlene's company.

"Alright, Remus?" James beamed, although Sirius looked frightened and seemed to be trying to hide behind James. A glance at Marlene told Remus that she was glaring daggers at the poor boy, so he nudged her off the counter rather more aggressively than was entirely necessary.

"Alright, James?" Remus replied, his voice heavy as he watched Marlene sit at one of the many empty tables and watch Sirius with narrowed eyes, challenging him to sit opposite her. Defiantly, Sirius fell into the seat opposite her. Ignoring the pair, James rested his elbows on the counter to talk to Remus.

"How've you been?" he asked as Remus watched his friend remain threateningly silent over James' shoulder.

"Over the past six months? Busy, mostly. How was India?"

"Amazing. I hadn't been in about ten years. Apparently, I have literally dozens of cousins out there. How's the piano going?"

"Yep, good. Working for my diploma."

"Wow, really?"

The conversation was strained as both boys pretended not to hear the conversation going on behind them. "You've changed," Marlene was telling Sirius accusingly as he stretched, trying to make himself as big as possible, as if he was trying to assert his dominance.

"Do you think we should-" Remus began, but James shook his head.

"Let them fight it out. Things will be a lot less tense once they do," James told him. Marlene, however, had heard James, and sat back with folded arms, not saying another word, refusing to give James the satisfaction of being right. James sighed and left Remus to sit by Sirius.

"Er, I would come and join you, but I'm actually working right now."

"There's no one in the café right now, Remus, come and sit down," Marlene said and Remus, not being in the mood to disagree with her, obeyed.

The four of them sat in heavy silence for a few moments as Marlene and Sirius continued to glare at one another. "So," James started, desperately scrabbling for something to say. "Did you go away over the summer, Marlene?"

"Aye. Went to France, didn't I?"

"Ah," James nodded. "Right. Did you enjoy it?"

"'Suppose."

"Right." They lapsed into silence once again.

Sirius kept his eyes on Marlene, but it not solely to win the wordless argument. He hadn't looked at Remus head on since they had arrived, and he was reluctant to do so. From the corner of his eyes, he had gathered that Remus had grown to be well over a foot taller than him – taller than James, even – and that he needed a haircut as his hair fell into his face.

He was tempted to look at him properly, and would have done had he not been afraid of his earlier concerns being right. Developing another crush on Remus was not something Sirius had on his agenda, and his plan for the time being was simply not to look at him. He looked at him.

Sirius' concerns had been valid. The single time he would have been pleased had James' dismissal of his dramatics been correct, and he had to have his fears confirmed. As he looked at Remus, his stomach clench and he involuntarily bit his lip. Remus had grown in to his face, which before had been a little too long, and there was a smattering of freckles on his nose. Remus blushed when he realised where Sirius was looking – a delicate blush that coloured his cheeks a pale pink – and he looked away.

"What are you up to this Hallowe'en?" he asked James suddenly, his blush spreading up to his ears at James' knowing look.

"Nothing, I don't think. Probably watching horror films until 3 am."

"You should come to Marlene's party," he said.

"Oi! Whose house do you think this is?" she cried indignantly.

"Shut up, Marlene, Jesus. Well?" He looked hopefully at James, his eyes flickering over to Sirius only once.

"Sure, we'd be delighted – provided we're welcome, of course."

"Don't have much choice now, do I?" Marlene sulked as Remus said, "Of course. I'm sure our friends would love you."

There was another silence as Marlene looked sullenly at Remus, which Sirius broke by saying, "Well, it's been great catching up with you. I suppose we'd better get on James, hadn't we? Places to go, people to see." It was the first time Sirius had spoken since they'd arrived, and Remus jumped.

James looked reluctant as Sirius pulled him out of his seat and hurried away. "Bye, guys," he said over his shoulder before he disappeared through the door.

"What the fuck was that?" Marlene asked as the door swung shut.

"I just thought it was polite to ask them," Remus said, shrugging defensively as he stood up again.

"Not that, dickhead! I meant the lingering looks at Sirius."

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Remus insisted.

"Don't get yourself in trouble again, Remus. He's not worth it."

An elderly man entered the café with a large, shaggy dog. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Remus repeated, before smiling and asking how he could help the man.


	15. Chapter 15

Sirius climbed into the back of Mrs Lupin's car, careful not to ruin his outfit. Since he and James had not been prepared for any sort of a Hallowe'en party, they were forced to improvise. Sirius wore his signature leather jacket and a plain T-Shirt, with a top hat balanced carefully on his messy curls, having borrowed Mrs Potter's curling tongs. James had reluctantly agreed to let Sirius do his makeup, and was now dressed as some sort of zombie, although Sirius was forced to rip up his rugby shirt for full effect, so he was now sulking.

Remus smirked at both of them in the rearview mirror. "And what are you meant to be?" he asked Sirius.

"A back from the dead Marc Bolan, obviously. I would have thought it was clear. Anyway, you haven't changed a bit."

It was true. Remus didn't seem to have even brushed his hair, and he wore his old jeans and ratty band T-Shirts. "Oh, I'm a werewolf," he said. At Sirius' raised eyebrow, he gestured out of the window. "It isn't full moon tonight."

"Really, Remus, dear, would it have killed you to put in a bit more effort?" Mrs Lupin asked reproachfully.

"Mam, leave me alone, it's fine. Marlene looks ridiculous enough for the both of us, anyway."

"What's she going as?" Sirius asked.

"A fairy of some sort, but she's one hell of a scary fairy." A small bubble of excitement welled up in Sirius' chest as he realised that he and Remus were having the first civilised conversation for months.

"Sounds like Marlene to me."

Remus hummed in agreement.

A few moments later, Mrs Lupin said, "By the way, boys, Marlene has offered for you to stay the night at hers. She has plenty of spare rooms, and it will mean you won't have to be picked up at half past nine."

"She has loads of brothers," Remus told them. "She'll steal some of their clothes if you guys don't want to sleep in your costumes."

"I'll let your parents know, of course."

James exchanged a glance with Sirius and said, "Yeah, sounds good, provided my mum and dad are OK with it."

"Great," Sirius muttered under his breath. "I'll just prepare myself for 16 hours of Marlene glares, shall I?"

"I wouldn't worry about that," Remus said, although Sirius could hear the smirk in his voice. "I think she was actually quite sorry about the way she behaved the other day. Not that she'll admit it, of course."

"Either way," James said, sharing Remus' grin. "It should make for an interesting evening, right?"

Half an hour later, they were standing outside an old Victorian house which was near the centre of the town. Sirius hadn't considered where Marlene lived. He'd always assumed that she lived in Llanfairpwll, he realised now.

A tall girl, dark hair falling straight to her chin and no further, opened the door and grinned when she saw Remus. "How are you?" she asked, pulling him into an enthusiastic hug. "I haven't seen you since school!"

A boy came to the door and put his hand on the girl's shoulder. "Oi," he joked. "Keep your filthy hands off my girlfriend."

"I would hug you," Remus deadpanned. "But I wouldn't be able to wash off the smell for weeks."

"Always the charmer," the boy smiled and Remus turned to James and Sirius.

"This is Alys and Frank. Guys, this is James and Sirius."

"Oh." Alys raised her eyebrows. "Sirius from…?"

"Yes, Alys," Remus sighed. "And thank you for being so discreet. Honestly. I really appreciate it."

"Any time, sweet cheeks. Anyway, come on in, guys, it's getting cold outside."

The house was alight with warmth and music. The three boys followed Alys and Frank into the kitchen, where they found twenty other teenagers milling around; talking, laughing, eating the Hallowe'en food. They were all dressed in some kind of costume.

"Eh, Remus!" one of the girls yelled, arms spread wide in glee, and Remus was swallowed into the party, leaving James and Sirius on the outskirts, wondering what exactly they should do.

"Are parties not like this at boarding school?" Alys asked, bringing a plate of food and a drink. James glanced longingly at the food but knew that Sirius would beat him up if he abandoned him.

"Not at all," Sirius replied. "We have to have them in people's dorms, because we share the common rooms with kids younger than us, so we mostly sit around and get drunk."

"Have you been to a house party before?"

Sirius shook his head as James slipped away.

"This is pretty tame, to be perfectly honest. Marlene was smart enough to only invite fewer than thirty people. I've been to some with over sixty."

Sirius nodded politely, but could think of nothing else to say. He was visibly relieved when James returned, carrying drinks for both himself and Sirius. Sirius took the drink gratefully, glad of something to do with his hands, and took a large gulp without asking what the drink was.

Remus emerged from the centre of the kitchen with Marlene in tow, who looked reluctant. Sirius could see what Remus had meant when he said Marlene looked ridiculous. Her afro had been dyed a neon green, and she was wearing a tutu of a matching colour, as well as a black corset that left little to the imagination. Sirius almost admired her for her shameless attitude towards – well, almost everything.

"Wow, Marlene, you look like a clothes shop exploded," Alys said. Marlene replied with her middle finger.

"Ah – what are you meant to be?" Sirius asked politely, supposing that it would be better to be on good terms with Marlene.

"An evil fairy."

"Evil fairy? Sounds more like Sirius," James snorted, only to be met with an elbow to his ribs.

"Won't you get in trouble at school for having hair like that?" Sirius asked, determined to be courteous now that Remus was standing _right next to him._

Marlene shrugged. "Probably."

"She's going to get it dyed a sensible colour on Sunday, aren't you Marlene?" Remus asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Alright, no need to be patronising," Marlene replied defensively.

"The school would definitely expel her if she turned up like that. Which, as entertaining as it would be, is not on anyone's agenda."

"You two, we're going dancing," Marlene said abruptly, gesturing to Alys and Remus before he could embarrass her any more. With a short goodbye to Sirius and James, they both complied. Sirius grabbed hold of the sleeve of Remus' hoodie before he could disappear completely, taken by a sudden burst of courage and a vague notion that he should probably feel bad.

"Listen," he said as Remus looked confused. "I don't think I've apologised, and I'd like to. I'm really, really sorry for the way I behaved. It was bang out of order."

Remus bit his lip and Sirius thought for a moment that he was going to reply before he slipped into the crowd.

"It's OK," James said consolingly, put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "He'll get over it."

"But he shouldn't. The way I behaved was totally shitty."

"Don't beat yourself up about it. It was ages ago."

Sirius huffed a sigh and folded his arms, still holding his drink.

The gaggle on the dance floor began to break apart to reveal Marlene and Remus and Alys dancing. A few others joined them, all jumping around wildly, while everyone else seemed content to continue their conversations.

Remus looked ruffled, his face flushed and hair wild as his limbs moved awkwardly. He was not the world's best dancer, but Sirius liked watching him all the same. A spike of jealousy shot through as Marlene grabbed hold of Remus' hands so that they could dance together.

"Shall we join them?" James asked in Sirius' ear, making him jump. After taking a minute to gather himself, Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go for it."

Sirius wondered if he looked ridiculous. He could feel people watching him, but he did what he always did in this situation; he didn't give a fuck. He swung his hips and threw his arms around in time to the music and allowed himself a belly laugh as James tried to copy him. He let loose, despite knowing a maximum number of five people in the room, and he felt good. He definitely wasn't showing off for the sake of Remus.

Taking a misjudged step backwards, Sirius knocked into someone who spilt their drink down their top. "What the fuck-"

"I'm so sorry," Sirius said hurriedly, searching his pockets frantically for a bit of clean tissue.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, faggot?"

Sirius looked up, his eyebrows raised. "Excuse me?"

The boy seemed to forget about his soiled T-Shirt and looked at Sirius properly, laughing openly. "You're a filthy little queer! Look at the shit around his eyes!" A couple of the people around them started to snigger and Sirius could feel a surge of anger and humiliation rise within him, but before he had a chance to reply someone had jumped in front of him and landed a well aimed punch on the boy's nose. It hid with a thud, and Sirius jumped at the sound.

"Remus?"

The boy returned the punch without hesitation, and within moments both teenagers were brawling.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Remus, get off him, for fuck's sake!" Marlene shrieked, running forwards and wrapping her arms around Remus' shoulders, pulling uselessly at him. James joined her, while people Sirius didn't recognise pulled at the other boy. Sirius remained where he was, dumbfounded.

"Homophobic prat," Remus spat at him.

"Protecting your boyfriend, are you, fag?"

Remus relented and allowed himself to be dragged to the kitchen by James while Marlene yelled at the boy. "Get out of my house! Remus is right, you can't go around mouthing off at people like that here! I don't care if your mum isn't coming for another hour! Get out!"

As the boy skulked away, Marlene hurried to the kitchen. Sirius followed.

Remus examined the cut above his eye as James pressed kitchen paper into his hands, telling him to stop the bleeding, and asking if he wanted something to clean it up or something.

"What the fuck was that, Remus?" Marlene asked, closing the door behind her and Sirius. "Why'd you punch him?"

"He called me a faggot," Sirius said quietly. Remus didn't turn around to look at them.

"Is that all?" Marlene asked. Sirius was taken aback. "We've had worse than that. What was different this time?"

 _Me_ , Sirius thought, and was even more surprised at the idea. Did Remus still like him? Was he going through the same crisis as Sirius? How was he meant to resolve this?

"Bloody hell, I dunno, Marlene. Tired of homophobic wankers who think it's OK to throw terms around like that?"

"Yeah, but still-"

"Do you mind just fucking off for a minute, Marlene? I'm tired of you mothering me all the fucking time, I'm not some sob story for you to take under your wing. Just leave me alone, OK? I'm actually not an idiot, and I know what the fuck I'm doing."

"Remus – I never –" she faltered.

"Ah, Jesus," he groaned, stomping towards the back door and slamming it on his way out.

Sirius, James and Marlene looked helplessly at each other. Marlene looked as though she were on the verge of tears. "I – he hardly ever –"

"It's OK," Sirius said gently. "Give him a bit of time. Go back to the party, yeah? He'll be OK soon."

Marlene nodded and composed herself, wiping her eyes carefully, and joined the party without another word.

"Shall we-?" James began.

"I'll go," Sirius said, more confidently than he felt. James raised his eyebrows.

"Are you sure?"

Sirius nodded, ignoring the rush of anxiety he felt at the decision. James shrugged and Sirius took it as a blessing. He followed Remus outside.


	16. Chapter 16

Sirius tentatively stepped outside and found Remus sitting on a garden chair, ignoring the chilly autumnal air. Sirius sat beside him.

"I don't want to talk about Marlene," Remus said decisively before Sirius could open his mouth.

"OK," Sirius nodded, eyes widening slightly. He'd never seen Remus in such a bad mood. "Erm – listening, about standing up for me –"

"I didn't stand up for you."

Sirius blinked. "You didn't?"

Remus looked at him, scowling, and saw that Sirius looked bewildered. "You don't think I fancy you, do you?"

"I – well, I-"

"Because I don't," he said, nastily. "I punched that twat because I'm sick of the bullshit going around, not because I was being noble or because I care about you or whatever you think is going on."

Sirius bit his lip and looked away, willing himself not to cry. Cruel words would have stung from anyone, but from Remus, who was usually so kind and calm, they felt like a punch to the neck.

"OK," Sirius said, taking a deep breath to compose himself. "OK. So, we don't like each other. That's fine. Maybe we should – I dunno – start again?"

"What do you mean?" Remus huffed.

"Well – hi, I'm Sirius." He offered his hand, feeling like an idiot. "I'm living with my friend who lives a few villages away. And you are?"

Remus stared at his hand before breaking into a snort. "You're ridiculous."

Sirius nodded, letting his hand drop and feeling encouraged by Remus' laugh. "This is true. But really, how have you been over the past six months? How were your exam results?"

"Yeah, they were pretty good. 6 A*s and an A. But how was India?"

"Well, for a couple of weeks we hung out in Rajasthan, where we were proper tourists. We saw actual palaces, which are way better than any of the shitty ones you'll find in the UK – apart from Wales, of course - and swim all day, and rode on camels, and it was awesome." Remus was nodding politely, but Sirius wasn't to be stopped. "Then we went to Vrindavan, where loads of James' family live. It's kind of crowded and dirty, but it's a holy city, and it was just – I dunno, just really calm and peaceful. James' mum visited the Hindu priest and asked him for a small prayer, and I couldn't understand a word he was saying, but I still cried. We were staying in this house by the bazaar, where they sold bangles and stuff. Not a Western shop in sight. I actually brought home loads of beautiful souvenirs, but I think I left them at school…" While Sirius had thoroughly enjoyed his trip, he hadn't spoken as enthusiastically about it before. He supposed a combination of an exciting holiday and the chance to talk to Remus again resulted in his rambling.

Remus laughed. "So you had a good time?"

"Definitely," Sirius agreed, nodding enthusiastically.

"And, well, I don't know how to put this, but you seem to have become more… Alternative than the last time you left?"

"You mean more queer," Sirius snorted. "You could say that I've been on a journey over the past few months… With my body, in my mind, and in my heart."

"Pretentious git," Remus snickered.

Sirius leaned back in his chair, tilting his head up to stare at the stars, winking at him from the sky. A sense of contentment washed over him as Remus chuckled softly again, apparently at nothing. For the first time since he arrived, he felt like maybe everything between the two of them would be OK.

"What do you want to do with your GCSEs?" Sirius asked. "I mean, you obviously could do anything with marks like that."

"Do with them? You mean like, as a job?"

Sirius nodded.

"I don't know. I suppose I like writing, and I like music. Maybe I'll study English. And then… Become a writer? A journalist? I also quite like the idea of writing songs…"

"Songs? Have you written any?"

"Not songs, exactly, but you know, poems and stuff."

Sirius' face lit up. "Poems? Like, shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"

"Oh my God," Remus groaned, burying his blushing face in his hands.

"Can I read them?"

"No way," he murmured, without removing his hands.

"Go on, please."

The air was growing gradually chillier as they continued to talk, swapping jokes and stories, but neither of them had noticed the time passing until James's head appeared around the door.

"Oi! Everyone's leaving now. Come back inside, it's fucking freezing."

James ducked back inside the house and Remus sighed heavily. "I suppose I'd go and apologise to Marlene."

"I think she'll be OK," Sirius said confidently, trying to reassure Remus. "Your friendship seems stronger than a couple of stupid words."

Remus smiled sadly. "Thanks."

Pulling himself out of the chair, Sirius left Remus alone. He understood the need to think things over before sincerely apologising.

Inside the house, Marlene was sitting by herself in the kitchen. She half heartedly directed Sirius to the bedrooms, and Sirius followed her instructions without question. He understood that the last thing she needed was to be irritated by annoying questions from a boy she didn't like.

He found James lying on a bed, messing around with his phone, after opening several bedroom doors. When he entered the room, James looked up, smirking. "Have a good catch up outside?

Sirius smiled and nodded, sitting on the end of the bed. "I think we could actually be friends again, James."

James turned his phone off and sat up to look at Sirius properly. "And is that what you want? To be friends?"

"Well," Sirius said, frowning at the question. "It's better than nothing, isn't it?"

James shrugged. "I suppose."

"What about you and Lily? Even though you liked her for ages, you said you were happy just being her friend."

"And I was," James insisted. "Just, happier her boyfriend than her friend."

Sirius sighed. "Anyway, where am I sleeping?"

James still looked concerned, but said, "Marlene says you can stay or in any of the rooms which don't have a sign on the door saying 'Marlene's room'."

"I guess I'll stay in one of them, then."

He got up to leave, closing the door as James said "Be careful, Sirius."

Sirius rolled his eyes as he closed the door. He wasn't cross with James, but he thought that for the time being, he'd rather not dampen his sudden happiness with worrying about the consequences. He picked a room at random, and perched on the bed. The room was tidy, compared to what he expected a teenager's room to be, but he knew that Marlene's brothers were in university. Sirius realised he had no idea where her parents were.

The door opened and Sirius looked up, expecting it to be James with another lecture prepared. Instead it was Remus, looking just as surprised to see Sirius as Sirius was to see him.

"Oh! Sorry, Sirius, I usually sleep here but it's OK, I'll go to another room," he said, lingering in the doorway.

Sirius shook his head. "Don't worry. Why don't you stay for a bit?" The question hung in the air and butterflies began to beat against Sirius' stomach as he expected rejection from Remus, but to his relief Remus nodded and sat at a chair, his face only a few inches from Sirius'.

"How did it go with Marlene?" Sirius asked, crossing his legs on the bed.

"Oh, it was fine. We hugged it out. She needed a shower, though, so she sent me to bed."

"You guys are already back to the same old pattern."

"Yeah, but it works really well, in all fairness. I was just… Upset, I suppose."

Sirius paused, wondering if he should voice his next his next remark. He voiced it anyway. "You don't twitch anymore."

Remus grinned, delighted that Sirius had noticed. "I've actually really got under control of the whole thing over the past few months. I hardly get out-of-control stressed anymore, you know? It's been great."

Remus' grin was infectious, and Sirius found himself sharing it. "That's amazing. I'm proud of you."

Remus blinked. "You are?"

Sirius was suddenly reminded just how close their faces were, and found that he had been leaning closer without realising it. He paused when their lips were only a few inches apart, waiting for Remus' permission. He closed his eyes when Remus' lips touched his.

Remus smelled of soap and water, and tasted of hot chocolate and chilly autumnal rain. He sighed as Sirius pulled very gently away to take a breath and leaned his forehead on Remus'. They looked at each other for a moment and Remus smiled. "You're not going to tell me you're straight again, are you?"

"Nope," Sirius said, smiling with him. "I think the correct term is gay as hell." He lifted his hand to Remus' hair as he kissed him again. The kiss grew to be more heated as Remus pushed Sirius back onto the bed, crawling up to lie next to him, leaning up on one elbow as Sirius lay on his back, hardly breaking for breath.

They didn't pull apart for several more minutes, but when they did it was because Sirius had a question he felt was of the upmost importance. "What are James and Marlene gonna say?"

Remus idly ran his hand through Sirius' hair. "Gonna say? You mean… Like we could be together?"

"Yeah," Sirius breathed. "If that's what you want."

"I don't know," Remus smirked. "Are you going to break my heart and not apologise for six months again?"

"Oh, bugger off."

Remus burst out laughing, collapsing onto the bed and holding his stomach as his body rattled with mirth. "Did you-" he snorted. "Did you just tell me to bugger off?"

"What? I don't get it."

"You're so posh!" Remus told him between peals of laughter. Sirius huffed and pretended to sulk and Remus stopped, rolling onto his side to bite his lip and looked at Sirius through his eye lashes.

"Oh, Sirius," he said in a near moan that went straight to Sirius' stomach. "Talk Eton to me?"

He broke into laughter again as Sirius shoved him away. "Oh, I'm sorry, Pads. How can I make it up to you?" he asked, kissing Sirius' pouting lips quickly.

"Hm, I dunno," Sirius said, pretending to be deep in thought. "You could snog me until we fall asleep?"

"I think that can probably be arranged."

Remus was awoken early the next morning by watery autumn sunlight filtering through the blinds. He yawned and realised with a start that there was a person resting between his arms. Sirius was still sleeping peacefully, snoring softly. Remus sniggered and shook him awake.

"Tosser," he muttered as Sirius rubbed his eyes.

"What a way to be woken up, really, Remus," he said, his voice gravelly with sleep. He seemed to notice the fact that they were cuddled up in bed together with a start and a smug smile. "Did we sleep together last night?" he asked with interest.

"No, you wankstain," Remus replied fondly. "Because it would be illegal and we were both completely sober."

"I'm sixteen on Tuesday, then it won't be illegal."

"Actually, it would be twice as illegal, since you'd be having sex with a minor."

Sirius considered this. "True." They both settled into the sheets, Sirius resting his head on Remus' chest as they both fell into comfortable silence.

"What are you thinking about?" Remus asked, whispering through the quiet morning.

"I'm just thinking about myself this time eight months ago. You know, when I ran away. And about – well – about how this is more a home to me than that place ever was." He glanced across at Remus. "I'm sorry, was that cheesy?"

"Yeah," Remus conceded. "A little bit. But it's OK, I think I get it. Well, as the great Sir Tom Jones said, this is the green, green grass of home, eh?"

A/N: Yay! This is finally over. I've been working on this story since April, so it really is a huge deal to me. Thank you all for suffering through this with me – it really means a lot. I hope the ending made up for all the angst I've put you through!


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